Chuck vs High School
by TeamBartowski
Summary: AU. Chuck and co. during their time in High School. There will be Charah, it is inevitable. Rated T to be safe, there is some violence.
1. Prologue

**Hi guys and gals. This is our first fanfic (TeamBartowski consists of two authors) and I hope you enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: We do not own Chuck.**

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Charles "Chuck" Irving Bartowski: 16 years old. Father just left him and Ellie and he moved into an apartment in Echo Park because Ellie is going to UCLA to study medicine and she didn't want to leave him on his own but he wanted her to go to university so they compromised. Their mother left them ten years ago. Attends Burbank High School. He is a sophomore in high school.

Sarah Lisa Walker: 16 years old. Under witness protection, formerly known as Jennifer Lisa Burton. Lives in Echo Park with her new foster family-The Millers. Parents: Alex and Carol Miller and their daughter Carina Miller. Attends Burbank High School. She is a sophomore in high school.

Carina Miller: 17 years old. Lives in Echo Park with her parents Alex and Carol Miller. She is Sarah's foster sister. Her boyfriend is John Casey. Attends Burbank Highs School. Is a junior in high school.

John Casey: 18 years old. Carina's boyfriend. After high school he wants to enrol in the Us Marine Corps. Attends Burbank High School. Is a senior in high school.

Eleanor Fay Bartowski: 19 years old. Father recently left her and her brother Chuck. Ellie had been accepted to attend UCLA to study medicine but she did not want to leave her brother on his own so as a compromise, he moved to LA with her so that they could be close while she was away in university. Their mother had already left ten years before.

Alex and Carol Miller: Carina's parents and Sarah's foster parents. 40-something-year-olds. Carol is a Lawyer while Alex is an ER Doctor. They care a lot for Carina and Sarah and can be quite strict but they understand that they need go their own way sometimes. They live next door to Chuck. However, they extended their apartment so that they have a second floor.

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(A/N: The apartments are not set out like in the series, they are side by side, not connected with a small courtyard and fountain.)_**

**We hope you will carry on reading. It will be nice to hear your views. Thank You.**

** TeamBartowski  
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	2. Chapter 1

**Hello again from TeamBartowski. Thank you for reading on and we hope you enjoy our story. Please review, we welcome compliments and and critical points or questions that you may have.**

**Disclaimer: We do not own Chuck.**

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What could be worse than a new home, a new family and a new name?

A new High School.

The first day was always the worst. You have to decide who you are. Get it right; you're on the easy ride to friendship and top universities. Get it wrong; you're the bottom of the dung heap. You become every tormentors new dream toy, destined to four years of rock bottom.

"Sarah!" Her foster mother's unnaturally upbeat voice called through the door to her room. "Up 'n' at 'em!! It's a brand new day and a brand new school!" Sarah heard Carol's footsteps fade as she went to wake up the only other occupant of the house who was still asleep.

Her daughter. Her real daughter.

While Sarah was a fosterling, Carina Miller was their biological daughter. Although, unlike her parents, she was slightly more rebellious, and while her parents didn't condone it, they understood her reasons. Awesome right? They had even said that, if she wanted, she could call them Mom and Dad. Sarah didn't feel comfortable calling her foster parents of all of five minutes Mom and Dad so she stuck with their names, Carol and Alex. That was her foster family, Carol, Alex and Carina Miller. Carol and Alex were in their forties but they were already getting grey hairs. Probably from the stress of their jobs, Carol was a Lawyer while Alex was an ER Doctor. Carina was 17 years old, five foot ten, with strawberry blonde hair and striking blue eyes. She looked like a super model. Sarah was the new member of the family but she kept her name-granted it really wasn't _her _name- Sarah Walker. Five foot seven, with blonde hair and blue eyes. Normal… dull. She didn't wear make up and did not intend to start now. She always kept her hair up in a loose ponytail- you never knew when you were going to have to run. Although her father always said "A good con man can leave whenever he wants." And yet they seemed to do a lot of running. Sarah got out of bed and went into the bathroom, which was directly across from her room. Taking a shower didn't drown her nerves. Getting dressed was hard though. What to wear so that she looked nice but not so much that she looked like a slut. Selecting a red blouse and skinny jeans, she quickly dressed and went to the kitchen to get breakfast and face her foster family. It wasn't that they weren't nice or anything, it was that Sarah had a hard time letting people in after her father and his life lessons.

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Chuck delved deeper under his duvet, intending to get a few more minutes of sleep. The sun, however, had a different idea. The sun shone through his partially closed blinds, bathing his room in light. Yawning, Chuck stretched and slid out of bed. Looking at his alarm clock, he found it broken, the screen cracked through the middle. Moving didn't seem to agree with his alarm clock. Chuck checked his watch, cursing as he found out that he was already late. He jumped off the edge of his bed and ran out of his bedroom and into the bathroom. He took a speedy shower. He left his hair wet, not having the time to dry it properly before leaving and it was easier for him to drag his comb through the mess of curls when they were wet. Looking through his nearly empty wardrobe he picked out an old pair of faded jeans and a navy shirt. After getting dressed he rushed into the kitchen to prepare his cuisine of a breakfast- Fruit Loops with no milk. _'Delicious.'_ Chuck thought sardonically.

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Sarah sat down at the island and watched as her foster parents dashed around the kitchen in a well-rehearsed dance to prepare breakfast for the family. After half an hour they came out with: Toast, jams, fried eggs and pancakes with chocolate chips-her favourite. Either they were making a big deal for her or this was what they usually did. She really hoped it was the latter. She could get used to this. After the table was set Carina entered the kitchen looking like…well looking like a super model. She wore a blouse that showed off too much of her assets for Sarah's liking though she was pretty sure the whole male population of the school wouldn't complain. Sarah knew that next to Carina she looked plain, she wouldn't stand out but not standing out is a good way of surviving high school. No one paid you any attention and you were allowed to do your own thing. After eating a bit of everything- _and God did they taste good_- Sarah went upstairs and picked up her black A&F shoulder bag-courtesy of Carina- containing everything she would need for the next few months- courtesy of Alex and Carol. Carina called her from downstairs and Sarah rushed back downstairs. They left the house after a round of hugs –only for Sarah, Carina flat out refused. Sarah left the house in a daze. She hadn't been shown that much care since her mother died, and that was over a decade ago. Her father was never the touchy feely type and so Sarah felt awkward as Carol and Alex hugged her, awkward but at the same time, oddly comfortable.

Sarah picked up her pace to walk beside Carina who said that they had to make a stop to pick up her boyfriend before they went to school. Sarah spent the walk to Carina's boyfriends house wondering what he would be like. Knowing Carina, she could have her pick of men so that didn't narrow it down. When Carina's boyfriend –John- joined them Sarah was shocked. She thought that Carina would have been going out with a jock but she was dating someone who looked like he should be in military uniform.

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Chuck placed his empty bowl in the sink-he'd deal with it later. He ran to his room and packed his bag hurriedly. After checking he had everything grabbed his house keys and left the house, making sure to lock the door behind him, and headed off to school.

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**Thank you for reading. We hope you enjoyed and Chapter 2 will be up soon. Please review.**

**TeamBartowski  
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	3. Chapter 2

**Hi again everyone. Thank you all soo much for the reviews, I (D-no) haven't every put a story up on fanfic before and the reviews only made me more eager to get the chapters out to you as quickly as I could.**

**So, thank you once again and I hope you enjoy chapter two.**

**Team Bartowski  
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Sarah, fell into step behind Carina as they made there way to school. They only stopped once to wait for Carina's boyfriend to join them. John… something. He was a senior and his way of conversing seemed to be a range of grunts. She was pretty sure that someone bored enough would actually be able to catalogue all of those grunts and make a language out of them. But that someone was not her, she had more on her plate than learning more about how her foster sister's boyfriend talked. It didn't seem as though he had anything interesting to say anyway.

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Chuck was running late. Not good for his first day. But really, it wasn't his fault. He was working late last night and his alarm clock broke. Dashing around the house, Chuck picked up everything he needed for the day: Bag, notebooks, pens, pencils, Buy More uniform-because he did indeed work at a Buy More. It wasn't like he had a choice, his sister was working hard in UCLA and he didn't want her to have to worry about any money problems. So he got a job. Granted it wasn't the most entertaining job in the world, but it would do for now. Surprisingly, when he applied, he was rejected for the salesman post and was offered a job at the Nerd Herd, surprising since he was only sixteen. But they needed someone and he needed the money. Chuck flung open the door and started to walk to his first day of school. Oh joy.

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Sarah was dragging further and further behind Carina and John, not that they noticed. She heard footsteps and turned her head to see who it was. A boy, about her age, with a shock of curly brown hair atop his head. His head was bowed so she couldn't see anything else. She turned her head back around; he didn't seem interesting, or important enough to waste her time with. As soon as she turned her head back, she heard a small yelp and a loud THWAP! Turning back around, she saw the curly headed teenager, sprawled in a heap on the sidewalk, His bag was open and his books and stationary were sprawled everywhere, as well as what looked like a white dress shirt, grey tie and black pants. She heard a grunt behind her and didn't have to turn around to know who it was. Sarah sighed and bent down to help the young man. As she got closer she heard him mumbling to himself.

"Stupid. Should look where you're going. Clothes are ruined and on the first day. Stupid."

Sarah was surprised to realise that she wasn't the only new student. Only when she handed him his now-dusty notebooks did he look at her. Sarah immediately found herself looking into a deep pool of chocolate eyes. She was trapped in the whirlpool of his gaze, watching as emotion flitted through his eyes, eyes that seemed to be staring right through her façade, right into _her._ Sarah quickly averted her eyes from his penetrating gaze.

Chuck stood up and mumbled an almost inaudible "Thank you." He dropped his eyes to the sidewalk, stuffing all his previously tidy books and stationary back in to his bag haphazardly. He straightened up, brushing off dust from his clothes. When he looked up he was surprised to see that the girl who had helped him was still there. His breath caught in his throat when he saw her. While most people would say that she wasn't the most beautiful person ever, in fact they would say she was pretty plain, Chuck would disagree as he had a hard time gathering his thoughts. Her cobalt eyes were looking straight into his but quickly, she turned her eyes away. Her red blouse accentuated her eyes and hugged her hips perfectly. He couldn't look away. Her eyes seemed icy, as if shielding herself. Chuck briefly wondered what or who could have hurt her so badly that she felt the need to build wall around herself, hiding herself away from others. Chuck thought he saw her eyes soften ever so slightly and he rushed to show her that he wasn't a bad guy. Giving her a small, shy grin he stuck out his hand, opened his mouth to introduced himself but before he could get a word out, the girl excused herself hurriedly and jogged towards two people who were quite far in front them, waving her over.

"Come on Sarah. You don't want to be late on your first day." The girl said with a small smile.

Chuck let his hand drop to his side as he thought to himself '_Sarah. Beautiful name.' _ Shaking his head, while cursing himself silently he continued walking towards school trying to clean himself up as much as possible. He kept his eyes on the ground in front of him and for this reason he didn't see the cursory glances thrown his way by Sarah.

Even though Chuck didn't look up, his mind was occupied with a certain beauty who had no idea who he was, and probably wouldn't care given the speed at which she left to get to her companions. _'Maybe she just didn't want to keep them waiting?'_ Chuck forced this thought out of his mind, even if that were true, it wouldn't matter. She still wouldn't give him a second thought-if she had even given him a first thought to begin with.

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Sarah was about to introduce herself when she saw Carina waving at her frantically.

"Excuse me" she mumbled hurriedly and jogged towards Carina and her boyfriend.

"Come on Sarah. You don't want to be late on your first day." Carina said jokingly with a small smile.

Sarah fell into step with the other two. She tried to listen as Carina gave her tips about teachers and ways to get out of detention-most of them involved shamelessly flirting with the teachers-all male of course. Sarah tuned her out, her mind still on the clumsy boy she met before. Every now and then she turned and glanced towards the boy, hoping he would raise his head and meet her gaze. Each time she turned her hopes were dashed. Sarah was confused with herself. Why was she acting so flustered? Was it because this was her first day of a new school? Was it because she was staying with another family, in a completely different state, let alone town? Was it because of the boy currently walking several feet behind them? Sarah shook the last thought out of her head. How could it have been him? She barely new him. But still, she could not shake him from her mind.

Soon she could hear the sounds of hundreds of teenagers. Shoving her thoughts of the boy behind them into the deep recesses of her mind she looked up and saw her new school.

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Chuck heard the students before he saw them. When he looked up he saw that Sarah was in front of him with another girl and boy. Sarah's shoulders were tense and Chuck guessed that this might also be her first day. _'Always good to know you're not alone.' _Chuck made his way toward the school and as he passed the trio also started to walk into school as well, although none of them looked pleased to do so. Chuck fell into step with the others casting a glance at Sarah, who was walking beside him. He was surprised to find that she was looking at him as well. Both turned away like kids who had been caught with their hand in the cookie jar. Each had a small smile on their face and both had the same thought run through their minds.

'_Today was going to be an interesting day'._

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**Thank you for reading. We hope you enjoyed the latest chapter. We will get chapter three up as soon as our school work allows us. Please review.**

**TeamBartowski (Erica & D-no)  
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	4. Chapter 3

**Hi everyone. First, we would like to thank everyonefor their Awesome (to borrow from the Captain) reviews. They really help. Second, we would like to apologise for the long wait for this chapter but it's a _much_ longer chapter. We hope you enjoy this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: We do not own Chuck.**

**TeamBartowski  
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Burbank High School. Place of the education to roughly two thousand and eight hundred pupils and a faculty of one hundred and ten. Located in Burbank, Los Angeles County, California.

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Chuck turned the page in his hands around several times, trying to decipher where he was. The school was so damned big! Finally figuring out where he may be-he still wasn't sure- he set off in what he hoped was the direction of 14 B, his homeroom. In a quicker journey than he had anticipated Chuck was standing outside his homeroom. Wiping his suddenly sweaty palms on his jeans he opened the door to be met with at least twenty stares, not all of them kind. There was a small silence as soon as Chuck entered.

"Charles Bartowski?" His teacher questioned, looking up at from his position at his cluttered desk.

"Uh-Yes." Chuck replied quietly, keeping his gaze on his scuffed black Chuck Taylor's.

The teacher sighed, looking around the room. "There are empty seats at the back. So take your pick." The teacher gave a small wave to the back of the room, giving Chuck an encouraging smile.

Chuck walked between the desks; head down, not wanting to look at anyone in the eye, not wanting to be noticed. Dropping his shoulder bag at the side of the desk he lowered himself onto the seat and traced the scars made by previous students on the desk while the teacher began to read out notices. Clubs were beginning, try-outs were being held for teams…

Chuck's head rested on his hand as he tried to concentrate on the teacher, Mr Barnhan. After another few minutes of notices the students were allowed to chat to each other, catch up on the happenings that they may have missed while on holiday. As soon as their teacher had sat down at his desk everyone had gotten up and milled around, finding their friends. Everyone, except Chuck and the only other person sitting at the back of the room. Turning his head to look at his companion he saw the girl from earlier this morning, Sarah. That was her name. '_Beautiful name.' _Chuck though once more. Chuck gave her a small smile and was surprised when she returned it with one of her own. Chuck's breath caught in his throat as she smiled. The smile, even though it was a timid one, lit up her face, removing the worry that previously crowded it.

Chuck tried to introduce himself once more, but once more he was interrupted, this time by the bell. '_So much for being saved by the bell.' _Chuck thought ruefully as he looked up his first lesson on his timetable. '_Maths. Fun.'_ Chuck thought sarcastically.

Chuck collapsed into the seat at the front of the room. '_Computer Technology. Last lesson before lunch. Thank God.'_

Their teacher stood at the front of the room, arms crossed a top his yellow dress shirt and grey blazer. He looked like he was a salesman of some sort. Their teacher watched everyone as they sat in one of the seats in the centre of the room; the computers were bordering the room. Their teacher spent a few minutes staring into the eyes of every pupil after they had all sat down, as if trying to stare them down, before clapping his hands and speaking to the class. As the teacher opened his mouth to speak Chuck had an inkling that this class would border on torturous, no matter how much he liked the subject.

"Okay listen up kiddies." He ordered, as he looked at the seated pupils in front of him condescendingly a sly smile playing on his lips.

'_Totally called that.'_ Chuck thought as soon as he heard the teacher's patronising tone. Chuck gave an inaudible sigh as he readied himself for an hour's worth of this particular tone.

"I know some of you think that computer tech will be hard but let me reassure you that you will only find this class difficult if you are a complete and utter idiot." Their teacher, sounded reassuring and Chuck almost rethought his whole idea that Computer Technology was going to be torture.

That is until the teacher said:

"So I am expecting most of you to find this class extremely difficult." Maybe his first impression had been right. The teacher's eyes raked over the some confused some knowing faces that looked up at him and Chuck could have sworn that his eyes rested on his a bit longer than the others. "Okay now slackers, time for work. I've got a PowerPoint that I want you to look at and then you are to take notes. Just remember," the teacher's eyes raked over the whole class, "only those who show _incentive_ will be passing this class." This time the teacher's eyes lingered on the pack of smirking jocks at the back of the class.

"Yes Mr Milbarge." The class chanted.

It was official.

Computer Tech was gonna be Hell.

Mr. Milbarge turned off the lights and turned on the projector, which was linked to the small laptop on his desk. He fiddled around with the mouse opening files and then a PowerPoint popped onto the screen. The teacher began to flick between the slides slowly but soon he began to speed up until the words were a blur on the screen. It was making Chuck dizzy but he found that he couldn't turn his head away; in fact he couldn't do anything. He tried asking someone to make it stop but his mouth wouldn't respond to his command. After a few more minutes the power point came to an end. Chuck shook the cobwebs out of his head and was pleased to have gained the ability to move again. Chuck shuddered as he remembered the sensation of no control over his body. Chuck groaned and raised a hand to his head and massaged his temple as he felt a headache coming on. _'What the hell was that?_' Chuck thought to himself.

Chuck looked at the lined paper of his notebook before him with confusion as he tried to make sense of what had just happened. Chuck felt a small rush in his head and he was remembering things that he didn't know before. He glanced at the empty pad and began to write. As Chuck went to flip over the page a hand came down on his pad.

"What do you think your doing?" A low menacing voice questioned.

Chuck's head snapped up and he instantly recoiled when he noticed how close Mr Milbarge was. He was leaning over the edge of the desk; one hand to keep him balanced was resting on the desk.

Confused by his teacher's anger at following instructions Chuck stumbled over his words as he tried to explain himself. "I-uh-was writing-uh- some notes. Just liked you –uh- told us…" Chuck's explanation dwindled into silence as Mr Milbarge's face quickly transitioned from white to beet root red. Chuck shuffled his seat back, unnerved by the teacher's radiating anger.

"Oh, writing notes were you? That lame excuse won't work with me, young man." He said with a sneer as he looked down on Chuck from his standing position. "Hmmmm." He mused, his forefinger tapping his chin lightly in a thoughtful position. "Maybe a love note?"

He looked at Chuck's wiry frame and wild curls and chuckled, "No, what girl would want to go out with you!" Mr. Milbarge snorted and the rest of the class was sent into hysterics at Chuck's slow torture.

Chuck was thankful to see that some looked slightly apologetic as they laughed half-heartedly. Mr Milbarge dramatically grabbed the notebook off Chuck's desk and waved it above his head in triumph. _'Of what?'_ Chuck had no idea. "The moment of truth!" He exclaimed to the class.

Mr Milbarge opened the notebook and began to read through Chuck's detailed notes. As he did so his smug smile disappeared and a frown graced his features. "Is this a joke?" He asked Chuck in a deadly whisper. The class looked between Chuck and their teacher in obvious confusion.

They weren't the only ones. Chuck's brow creased as he tried to understand why he was being reprimanded for this. "I-uh-wha-what?" He stuttered, his expression quizzical.

"Where did you get these notes?" Mr Milbarge's voice steadily began to rise as he walked back towards Chuck's desk.

"I wrote them down!" Chuck exclaimed. "You _saw_ me write them down!" Chuck rose out of his chair, his hands flying in front of him in perplexed exasperation.

Mr Milbarge was now looking _up _at Chuck and he didn't seem to like it. "Sit _down_ boy! I will not tolerate you talking to me in such a way. Stop lying to me. You could not have written down these notes now because _no one_, could see, let alone _remember _everything. Mow riddle me that." Mr Milbarge finished with a flourish and a devious smile that adorned his face as he looked at Chuck's shocked expression, mouth hanging open as he stared at him.

Chuck didn't know how to answer. He didn't _know_ how he had done it himself. How could he explain that he was in the dark as well?! _'I don't know sir. I just do'_ Yeah right 'cause _that_ was really gonna work. Chuck realised that his mouth was still hanging open and he quickly snapped it open as he tried to formulate a response. He thought that this would be a good thing, whatever 'this' was. Apparently not. Settling on a neutral- and lame- response Chuck said haltingly, "I have a good memory." A slight lilting at the end of his statement made it sound more like a question as Chuck crossed his fingers, unseen beneath the desk.

"'_I have a good memory.'_" The teacher mimicked in a high-pitched voice. "This time I'll let you off, but bear in mind, I will be watching you. Oh yes. I'll be watching you _very_ closely." The teacher's face was only a few centimetres away from Chuck. As he drew away he gave Chuck a fleeting malevolent smile. Chuck shuddered at his look.

The bell rung and everyone rushed out of the room, to eat and meet with their friends. Everyone save the jocks who were quietly conversing with Mr Milbarge who had a smug grin on his face and was jotting things down in a small brown notebook as Chuck walked out, the conversation and what it could mean was the last thing on his mind.

Chuck walked through the crowds, looking for a place to eat his food in peace. He passed several tables, students remaining within the strict boundaries of each table, clearly highlighting the groups within the school. Jocks, Geeks, Goths… Chuck made his way slowly passed these groups, head down, he didn't want to attract too much attention, especially not from the jocks. He didn't want trouble, he just wanted to make his way through high school with good grades, college applications and as small amount of trouble as possible, preferable none, but you can't be picky.

Chuck found a relatively empty table, in the corner of the room. There were two other people, a girl with wavy brunette hair and a boy with bleach blond hair, that had so much wax in it, a truck falling o his head wouldn't make a dent, sitting at the table. "Do you mind…?" Chuck trailed off as he pointed at an empty chair, his action clearly finishing his incomplete question.

"Yeah, sure." The girl answered with a warm smile. "I'm Lizzy."

"Chuck." The named answered and stretched out his hand to meet her already outstretched one.

"Lon." The boy, Lon, next to Lizzy interrupted with an impatient sigh. Flashing Chuck one more smile, Lizzy returned to her previous conversation with Lon, leaving Chuck to his own thoughts. Not that he minded.

Chuck pulled out his lunch from his bag, pleased to see that it had not been crushed against all his notebooks and various-unnecessary- pens. Chuck pulled out a hastily put together cheese and ham sandwich and began to eat, his mind wandering from this simple task.

Chuck's mind didn't wander too far. It ambled its way to his last lesson. He had no idea what had happened in there. Should he tell someone? Ellie? Would they think him crazy? Would they do tests on him? Chuck shuddered at that thought, he hated needles and tests meant needles, lots of needles.

He was confused at his teacher's response; he was merely doing what he was told, what the whole class was told to do. And what happened? He got grilled as if he was a spy in a foreign country. Like James Bond in… well, in all of his films, basically. _'For a suave and awesome spy he sure does get captured by the bad guy a lot.' _Chuck pondered before returning to his previous musings. He tried, fruitlessly, to understand what he had done wrong. After a while he gave up. It was pointless, he honestly had no idea what happened in Computer Tech, but he knew that it wasn't going to be a good subject.

Chuck enjoyed working with computers. He loved them in fact. It was a passion he shared with his…Chuck tried to swallow whatever was suddenly blocking his throat at the thought of his…dad. His father had been –_was? _- an engineer. He used to work from home. To keep Chuck occupied his father would place him in his lap while he worked. Chuck became enraptured by his father's work from a young age and set out to follow in his footsteps. At the age of six he had his own computer, beside his father's, his mom had taken a photo of them each witting in front of their computers and working. Well, his dad was working, Chuck was playing games. He was six!!

A few months after that photo was taken, his mom had left, leaving a broken shell of a man and two confused children. After their mom had left their dad had delved into his work more than he usually did, which was a lot. At first Chuck understood his father's need to get away from the real world, not wanting to face the stark reality that was the truth.

Chuck understood his father's want for solitude-at first. After a while though, Chuck started to get angry with his father for not paying attention to him and his sister. They needed him and he never gave them a second thought. They got used to looking after themselves, after each other, they didn't need him. Sure enough a less than a decade later he left them. No explanation, nothing. Chuck had been looking forward to Computer Technology; it was something he was good at. But after that lesson, he knew that it wasn't good to be enjoyable.

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Sarah sat at a table filled with Carina's friends - John Casey didn't really have any friends. Not that he really cared.

Sarah sat silently as Carina talked with her friends non-stop. Her day hadn't been extraordinary in any way, nor hadn't been terribly boring. It was just…normal. Which was a good thing. That's all she really wanted out of this experience. Out of life. A chance to be _normal_.She'd never had that with her father, moving from state to state as though it were a game. But, now, there was no more of that. She was staying in one place, in one home. One family. She wasn't really comfortable with her new family; they represented something that she had never really had. A family, a life. Love. She had been abandoned so many times, this time could be no different, she could not open her heart, open herself once more because it was inevitable that she would be left alone, hurt.

Sarah looked around at the gargantuan canteen area. Every table was full to the brim, people forgoing the actual seats and sitting atop the tables, chatting to one another. Some angry, some sad, some happy. She saw some of the people she had met during the day, some kind, offering to show her around, be partners in assignments. Some were indifferent, choosing to ignore her.

As her eyes scanned the room, the fell onto a table that wasn't full, actually only three people sat there. Two boys and a girl. One of the boys, who looked like he'd bleached his hair, was sitting close to the girl and their heads were bowed towards one another. The other boy sat on the opposite side of the table, staring into space with a sombre look on his face, a half eaten sandwich in his hand. Suddenly he sat up, walked to the bin, threw a bag filled with, what she assumed, was the rest of his lunch in to it. He then proceeded to walk out of the room.

He passed several tables. One of them was occupied by the jocks. As he passed that table one of the jocks pulled his head towards his own and whispered something into his ear. Sarah didn't know what he said but it had a resounding effect on the curly- haired boy. His face twisted slightly as if in pain, then it returned to its previous thoughtful look. The boy stood up from his forced bowed position and walked passed the jocks and out of the room without saying anything or looking back once.

Sarah hadn't noticed, but while she was watching the unknown boy Carina and her friends had stopped talking and were watching her with amused smiles on their faces. Sarah raised an eyebrow quizzically at their expressions.

"Who's that you've got your eye on then, Sarah?" Carina asked the question that seemed to be on all of their minds. The girls leant forward eagerly.

"No one." She said with a small shrug, turning her gaze to her food. Some one scoffed at her answer. "What?" She said as she looked back up only to be met with six penetrating looks. "I don't know." She admitted sheepishly. The girls grinned at this.

"I overheard one of the geeks talking about a new student, curly haired with brown hair." Alice said raising her eyebrows at Sarah. "Charles…something. Anyway, he was in her maths class. Apparently he's _very_ smart, cute and quite pleasant, but he doesn't really talk much. I can see him being smart. Cute? I suppose in a round about way he is. Pleasant? Isn't every man meant to be pleasant, but what they usually want is to get into your pants."

"Not that you mind. Huh, Alice?" One of the other girls said with a laugh, Sarah couldn't be bothered to remember her name. The other girls followed her into her laughter. Sarah let out a small smile.

Her smile faded as she turned to look at the now closed doors of the cafeteria, thinking about a certain Charles.

Last lesson of the day. _'Finally,' _thought Sarah as she took a place at one of the desks. She sat in silence as the room filled up with rowdy teenagers eager to see the end of this lesson.

"Alright class! Come on now people. Trust me, you're not the only ones who want this day to be over!" The Music teacher, Miss Garrett called. Surprisingly, everyone actually shut up. "Welcome to music. A lesson where you can make as much noise as you want without being told off for it. Seems right up everyone's alley." She looked at everyone, assessing them, but there was no patronising look in her eye, the look that so many teachers have.

"I'm going to go through your names and I want you to tell me if you play any instruments. Okay?" After hearing a murmur of ascent from her students Miss Garrett started calling out names. As each name was called out a student stood up and gave his or her reply. Sarah wasn't really paying attention. Not until the teacher called out:

"Charles Bartowski?"

Sarah's head snapped up and she massaged the pain that came with the sudden movement. As she had thought, Charles Bartowski was the curly haired boy of her constantly drifting mind. Not that she knew why. He was a geek. Looked like one and acted like one too.

"Piano and guitar." He said quietly. So quietly that he could barely be heard and the teacher had to ask for him to repeat what he said. Which he did and after he immediately sat down, eyes glued to the patterns his fingers were tracing on the desk in front of him.

Miss Garrett continued down her list and she finally came to:

"Sarah Walker?"

Sarah stood up and said in a clear voice that did not betray her underlying nervousness at being the centre of the class' attention, "Violin."

As she sat back down she felt herself being watched. Turing her head ever so slightly to the left she saw Charles watching her. As soon as she turned her head to get a better look at him, he turned his insightful gaze back to his apparently ever so interesting desk. Until…

"Charles Bartowski."

Charles' head immediately rose to look at his addressor. "Yes?" He asked.

"Would you like to come up and play something for us on the piano?" The teacher asked.

"I'm thinking that 'no' wouldn't really get me anywhere." He chuckled as he stood up and made his way, painstakingly slowly towards the baby grand situated at the front of the room.

Several students gave a small laughed quietly at Charles' nervous humour. The teacher gave him a comforting smile as he sat on the small stool. Before raising his hands to the keys he wiped them on his jeans.

Then, closing his eyes, he raised his fingers to the keys and began to play.

The room grew silent as Charles' melody washed between the students softly. The melody was beautiful and Sarah found herself entranced by Charles' rhythmic movements, his hands rising and falling on the keys. Suddenly the music stopped. Everyone started mumbling to each other, confused at the abrupt stop. Miss Garrett opened her eyes, which she had closed as Charles had began to play. She raised a quizzical eyebrow at him.

"It's been a–uh- a while since I played. Kind of hard to remember it all." Charles gave the teacher a small smile and she nodded, accepting his excuse but Sarah saw the teacher watching Charles thoughtfully as he made his way back to his seat.

As Charles sat down one of the jocks from the back of the room called out to him. "Thought you had a good memory 'ey Charley boy?"

Charles tensed at the laughter from the back of the room. Sarah wondered what had happened. This was her first lesson with him, leaving five lessons in which the jocks could have begun their torture of him

Charles turned around with a calm expression as if he hadn't heard their remark. Shrugging he said, "I guess I have selective memory." Grinning at the shocked faces of the jocks who didn't seem to like being answered back, Charles turned back to stare at his desk.

The appreciative looks and low chuckles from the rest of the class seemed to go unnoticed. Sarah watched him thoughtfully until he suddenly looked up and straight in to her eyes. She quickly turned back to the front of the room, ignoring the feeling that he was still watching her.

For the rest of the lesson the teacher talked to them about their course until, finally, the bell rang, freeing them from their incarceration. Everyone immediately sprung up and headed for the door, their bags hadn't even been opened during the lesson.

Sarah looked around the room and saw the tell tale curly hair of her purpose of her searching gaze sweeping out the room in the tide. Sighing, Sarah picked up her bag and made her way to her locker to collect her books.

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**We hope you enjoyed this chapter and we'll try to get chapter 4 up as soon as possible. We look forward to your reviews and feedback.**

**TeamBartowski  
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	5. Chapter 4

**Hey guys and gals.**

**Once more we would like to apologise for the lateness of this latest update. We do have an explanation. Coursework. Since we both study RS we both had the coursework to do. So once again sorry.**

**A large thank you to everyone who has reviewed, your reviews have helped alot and they make us eager to get the next chapter up as soon as possible.**

**To answer some questions brought up in the reviews:**

**-John Casey= We made him younger than Ellie so that he could have more time with Sarah and Chuck. Also if he wasn't younger he would probably be in the military or something and we REALLY wanted some Casey and Chuck interaction-so many opportunities for humour.**

**-Morgan Grimes= Yes Morgan will be in the story, have fear. He isn't in this chapter but he will be very soon, *cough* next chapter *cough.***

**-Mr Milbarge= Yes this is Emmett.**

**-Date=As for the timeline, to be honest we never really thought about the date of this, but I'm thinking this will not be according to the timeline, so it's set in the present. It's just easier I suppose. But there is nno set date so if you think it could be according to the timeline then it's perfectly fine.**

**In this chapter, the piano piece is Your Hand In Mine by Explosions In The Sky and the song is Once by Caleb Kane.  
**

**Anywho, I'm rambling. On with the chapter. We really hope you enjoy it, any feed back is welcomed.  
**

**TeamBartowski.**

**Disclaimer: We don't own Chuck *cries*. We also *sniffs* don't own Your Hand In Mine by Explosions In The Sky or *sniffs* Once by Caleb Kane. *breaks down in tears.*  
**

* * *

Chuck heaved his shoulder bag on wearily. _'What a day.'_ He closed, re-locked his locker and made his way to the exit.

On his way out he paused outside the Music Room. After checking the hallway for any sign of life he placed his hand on the door handle and turned it, raising his eyebrows in surprise when the door swung open revealing a darkened room where earlier that day he had been humiliated. Flicking the light switch he blinked several times as his eyes adjusted to the brightness of the room. He slowly made his way forward to the piano resting at the opposite side of the room, expecting someone to find him and yell at him to leave-after giving him a month's worth of detention of course.

Shrugging off his bag by the side of the piano he took a seat on the small stool in front of the baby grand. His eyes roamed over the keys, his fingers following in their wake, lightly pressing on each key. Memories of countless hours in front of the piano burst forth from the deep recesses of his mind for the first time in a decade. Memories of countless hours spent sitting in front of a piano in their old family home. Something many children would have found boring, and he was sure he would have too if it wasn't for the woman sitting beside him, her passion for the skill encouraging him to learn, to be as good, if not better. After his mother left he continued to play- though not as often- so that one day, when his mother returned, she would be proud, so that he could make her happy. He began playing in a band with his friends, and even began to write songs. But after months of playing, singing, hoping that she would realise how much they cared about her, hoping she would realise how much she loved them, he realised that she wasn't coming home. She didn't understand how much they needed her. She didn't care for them anymore. For months after it dawned on him that his mother didn't love him as much as he believed she did, he cried himself to sleep, making sure that Ellie wouldn't hear, he didn't want her to have to worry about him while trying to fill the void of their never present mother.

Every now and then he felt so many emotions flow through him that he needed a release. Whenever that happened he would put pen to paper and write, write away the pain that coursed through him. Write to escape. That was why he couldn't play earlier. He hadn't played in so long especially in front of any one, even Ellie.

Sarah was slowly making her way through the dark, empty halls towards the exit when she noticed that one of the rooms still had its light on. Sneaking a glance into the room she was surprised to see Charles- who had tanked in Music earlier- sitting in front of the piano. Sarah was more surprised when she heard a beautiful melody from inside and she saw the Charles' fingers gliding swiftly over the keys. The soft melody reached her ears and she could barely contain her gasp at the striking waves of sound that crashed all around her. It was the melody from the music lesson, the one he ended suddenly. All too soon the melody ended. Charles cleared his throat and Sarah immediately moved into the shadows, away from the doorway into the room, expecting him to call out to her. Only when the music started again did she realise that he had not seen her and she returned to her concealed watcher's position. After a few bars of the new tune Sarah could not hold hide her sudden inhalation as Charles' voice accompanied the piano, barely a whisper over the notes of the piano.

_"You change in front of me,  
Your eyes get darker every day,  
It happens quietly,  
Your focus slowly burns away,  
And if you let me hear,  
The things you seem to wanna say,  
Though I am late,  
I will wait to go,  
Until I know you're somewhere safe."_

Sarah pushed the slightly ajar further open so that she could enter the room. She thanked who ever the caretaker was when the door opened silently, with out alerting the room's sole occupant to her entrance. The door swung behind her, the click of the door closing was inaudible to the musician as he continued to play. Sarah took a seat at the back of the room, closed her eyes like Charles had as he played and just…listened.

_"And even if you chose  
To lock yourself away  
If I listen close  
I can almost hear you say_

_Once I was real  
Once I was somebody's child  
Once I could feel  
Some feeling once in a while  
Once I was here  
Once I was somebody's friend  
Once I appear  
I will be real once again."_

Sarah felt a pang reverberate in her chest at his words. It was almost as he could read her like an open book. Memories began to flood her mind but she pushed them away as she had done countless times. She was good at pushing away her memories but this time it was different. This time it was harder. Confusion flitted through her as she tried to understand what had changed. Was it the song lyrics that seemed to penetrate deep within her? Or was it the person singing the song, as if to her, as if his soulful mahogany eyes had seen straight through her façade that morning.

_"You're falling into it  
An inescapable release  
Or something intimate  
Between the you that no one sees  
Is there a way inside  
You only hide from enemies  
Cause I'll wait  
I'm afraid you won't get rid of me so easily_

_And even if you chose  
To lock the world away  
If I listen close  
I can almost hear you say_

_Once I was real  
Once I had something to lose  
Once I could peal  
Once I was harder to bruise  
Once I was here  
Once I was willing to bend  
Once I appear  
I will be real once again."_

Chuck poured his every heartache into the lyrics. The sadness of, once again, being left by someone who he cared about. The anger at the mocking laughter of the students who didn't understand, who would never understand. The unknown feeling that resounded in his chest every time he laid his eyes on or thought of the mysterious girl from this morning. Sarah Walker. These feelings were warring inside him and as he sang he felt them all…melt away.

_"You're falling farther than  
I've ever seen you fall before  
For me to wonder when  
I'll recognize you anymore  
To see no light inside your eyes at all  
To bang my head against the wall  
And force myself to watch you pull away_

_And even if you chose  
To lock the world away  
If I listen close  
I can almost here you say_

_Once I was real  
Once I was somebody's child  
Once I could feel  
Some feeling once in a while  
Once I was here  
Once I was somebody's friend  
Once I appear  
I will be real once again_

_Once I was real  
Once I was somebody's child  
Once I could feel  
Some feeling once in a while  
Once I was here  
Once I was somebody's friend  
Once I appear  
I will be real once again."_

As his voice echoed around what he believed to be an empty room, Chuck released the keys he was holding but kept his eyes closed for a while longer, taking deep, steadying breaths. After a few minutes he felt someone watching him and he could hear the deep breaths of some one else in the room. Expecting to be reprimanded for being in the room after school without permission, he quickly turned his head and his breath caught in his throat.

Sarah kept her eyes closed as the song came to a finished. Once she opened her eyes she noticed that Charles' eyes were still closed. While he kept his eyes closed she watched him as he took steady breaths. In. Out. In. Out. In. Out. It was as if he had just run a race. After the performance he gave he wasn't the only one out of breath. The pent emotion that flowed out from his voice would have floored her had she not been sitting already. His shoulders that, throughout the day, had been constantly tense had been relaxed as he played, as if he was no longer hiding, no longer trying to be invisible. She wished that she could have a moment in her life, when she didn't have to hide from everyone, afraid that if they saw her, if they knew her, they would run back to which ever rock they had appeared from. She wouldn't blame them.

Sarah was pulled from her thoughts when she felt someone watching her. Her eyes shot back to the only other occupant of the room and she was surprised to see him looking right back at her, right into her eyes.

Chuck and Sarah froze for a moment. Chuck gave an awkward chuckle, stood up and retrieved his bag. While his movements may have seemed somewhat calm and collected, his mind was on a completely different topic.

_'Was she listening? Would she tell someone? Would they make him play in front of others? Would they berate him? Did she like it?'_ The last thought shocked Chuck. He played as an escape for himself, no matter whether anyone liked it. Even though that was true, he still couldn't shake that question from his mind.

Chuck made his way towards the door of the classroom, holding it open behind him when he walked through, allowing Sarah to exit behind him.

"Thank you." She said, bowing her head.

They walked out of the school side by side, neither of them saying a word. Sarah saw Carina standing by the school gates with Casey. When Carina saw Sarah she smiled. When she saw Sarah's companion she raised an eyebrow curiously, a faint smile playing on her face, but did not question it. She motioned to her boyfriend to get moving.

Charles turned to as they were walking and stuck his hand out, "Chuck, Chuck Bartowski."

Sarah took Char-Chuck's warm hand into her own, "Sarah Walker." Sarah smiled at Chuck and he returned the smile with his own, much larger one.

"I know." Chuck smiled at the confusion that passed over Sarah's face. "You're sister called to you this morning, and the teacher called your name in music." Sarah's confusion melted at his explanation. Her confusion may have melted but the mask she wore did not. Chuck's forehead creased at that realisation, but he relaxed, knowing that she must have a good reason for hiding… whatever she was hiding.

"She's not my sister." At the questioning look on Chuck's face Sarah explained her sudden outburst. "Her parents are fostering me while my father has been –uh- unavoidably detained. So we're not really related."

Chuck noticed her hesitation when she mentioned her father and decided not to question her further.

The carried on walking side by side in silence, each stuck in their separate worlds. Sarah noticed Carina sneaking glances back at them at regular intervals as if she thought they were going to start making out or something. Sarah gave a low chuckle at the thought and Chuck's head snapped up to look at her. He raised an eyebrow enquiringly at her. Sarah shook her head at his questioning gaze and he gave her a small smile before returning to his own thoughts.

Soon, all too soon in Chuck's opinion, they had arrived outside his small, age wearied apartment.

Sticking his hand out again, Chuck smiled when she took it readily. "It was nice meeting you Sarah Walker. I'll be seeing you." Chuck said with a grin, adding in a low voice that he believed to be inaudible, "I hope."

Giving her one more smile, Chuck turned and walked into his apartment. Locking the door behind him, Chuck slid to the floor, his back against the door. Chuck shook his head at his pure dumb luck that he got someone like Sarah Walker to talk to him. Maybe high school wouldn't be as bad as he expected it to be. Chuck went to his room with a goofy grin adorning his face.

Sarah watched Chuck as he entered his apartment. She was surprised to find out that he lived next door. With a small smile on her face Sarah turned towards her own home. It used to look like Chuck's apartment, but Alex and Carol didn't want to move to get a bigger home so they expanded…upwards. It was fairly large upstairs; there were three bedrooms. There was a large bathroom, with a tub and a shower. The master bedroom, belonging to Alex and Carol, had an en suite. Even with less people wanting ton use the main bathroom, the wait to use it was still a long one. Carina. Sarah had no idea- nor did she want to have an idea- what happened behind those closed doors. Sarah's smile faded as she saw Carina and John making out. 'Darn.' Sarah thought as she noticed where they were making out. Right in front in the door. So she couldn't sneak past. Sarah quickly turned around to prevent her self from being mentally scarred. For Carina, a relationship was all about the physical aspects, she wasn't really one for all the lovey dovey feelings stuff. No wonder John was her boyfriend. He didn't seem like one to show his emotions a lot, if ever.

After a few minutes, Sarah deemed it safe to look. Turning back to Carina and John she was glad to see John walking in the direction of his home. Sarah walked towards the front door and followed Carina in. Alex and Carol were still at work so she headed straight to her room to start, and hopefully, finish, the homework they had been given. Thankfully, Sarah only had to read To Kill A Mocking Bird. Good thing was it was only two hundred and ninety six pages long. Unluckily, they were having a quiz on it. Tomorrow. _'Ahh, the joys of being a sophomore.'_ Sarah thought sarcastically as she dropped her weary body on the chair in front of her brand new desk and began her homework.

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**Really hope you guys enjoyed. Please review **

**We'll try to get chapter 5 up as soon as possible but our exams are looming ever closer and our teachers aren't helping us by reminding EVERYDAY that we have REALLY important exams. As if we weren't worried enough.**

**Anywho. We would like to apologise in advance for any elongated period of waiting for the next chapter.**

**TeamBartowski.  
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	6. Chapter 5

**Hello everyone.**

**Once again, Sorry for the late update. I think it's best that I apologise in advance for any other delays.**

**Thank you to everyone who read and/or reviewed, it's very motivating.**

**We had a review wondering about Sarah being self concious. Sarah is kind of in the Jenny Burton stage, she looks like Sarah in the show but she hasn't learnt how to use her looks, which I presume she did in CIA training. That's why we made her out to be slightly self concious. Cue Carina.**

**Anyway, on with the story and thank you again for your reviews.  
**

**For those who were waiting for it, I give you Morgan Grimes.**

**Disclaimer: We don't own Chuck or anything within the awesome Chuck universe.  
**

**TeamBartowski.  
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Chuck sat at the Nerd Herd desk, his eyes lazily roaming the store. There wasn't much for him to do and it was only the beginning of his shift.

It was his second week here and he still found the customs of his colleagues slightly…bizarre, to say the least.

Right now there were two of the sales men standing in front of the wall of high definition TV's, "The Wall" as his slightly inebriated tour guide called it. The two sales men each had a remote and were flicking through the channels shouting out the names of the TV shows flickering past their eyes. Behind them were the rest of the stores employees.

Some were cheering on the fuzz haired thirty-something year old-Jeff. He was the one who had shown Chuck around the store, with too much information and too much double meanings in his words, in Chuck's opinion. Chuck shivered at some of the stories Jeff had told him.

Some others were cheering on the small bearded green shirt. Morgan. That was his name. He was Chuck's age but had been working here since leaving the American Education System. Or "a waste of time" as Morgan explained to Chuck during his four hour-detailed- life story. Chuck was rather glad that the end of his shift had come up soon after. Morgan was a good guy; a good friend but sometimes he didn't understand the idea of _boundaries_.

Anyway, back to the present. Everyone in the crowd was holding a bunch of notes in his or her hand while customers wandered around the store, glancing at the rowdy crowd with fear as they waited to be served. Chuck had no idea why they would waste their money when they were working in a place such as the Buy More. Their wages were so low that the notes they were now handing over to a dark haired man was their payment for the month.

As the crowd dispersed Morgan, Jeff and the dark haired nerd herder, who had recently come into a lot of money, made their way towards the Nerd Herd desk where Chuck was currently lounging.

"Charles, Charles, Charles." Said his dark haired colleague, shaking his head as if disappointed with him. Chuck saw Morgan mouthing _'Lester'_ at him while pointing at the man currently fanning himself with green bills he had recently received.

"Yes Lester?" Chuck answered.

"It's time Charles. We can't keep molly codling you. You have to become… One of the Herd." Said Lester, his eyes slowly widening throughout his speech, until it looked as though he were choking.

"One of the Herd." Jeff echoed in a slurred attempt at a whisper, as he also looked at Chuck through unnaturally wide eyes. Chuck shrunk back as Jeff invaded his personal space smelling of stale beer.

Waving his hand in front of his face, ineffectively trying to get rid of the pungent odour that now surrounded him. "_Really_ Jeff? It's only four o'clock in the afternoon!" Jeff shrugged.

"Daddy needs his fix." He replied.

Chuck frowned at Jeff before turning back to Lester. "What do you mean 'One of the Herd'? As far as I'm concerned, I _am_ part of the Nerd Herd. My monthly wage, however close it is to the minimum wage, proves it." Chuck chuckled weakly as he looked at Lester in confusion and fear.

"You're not a Nerd Herder. You're weak!" Lester looked up and down at him; his voice was a poor attempt of a person in power. Even Morgan could do better. Lester quickly shoved his face towards Chuck's until they were nose to nose. "You're pathetic excuse for a Herder and we," He pointed to himself and Jeff, "are going to change that." With that Lester nodded to someone behind Chuck and Chuck was suddenly yanked off his chair.

'_Is that change for better or for worse?'_ Chuck wondered to himself as he was led, against his will, to the Break Room.

* * *

Once he was in the Break Room Chuck was turned to face a refrigerator.

"Charles Bartowski. Are you ready to become…One of the Herd?"

Suddenly the green shirts who had been minding their own business encircled Chuck and Lester, chanting, "Mystery Crisper! Mystery Crisper!"

"What the-" Chuck was cut off as Jeff opened the fridge door. At the rancid smell that wafted out of the fridge Chuck gagged stepping away from the fridge. Surprisingly, the others weren't affected by it. Chuck really didn't want to know why.

Lester walked towards the putrid smelling fridge and pulled out something wrapped in tin foil. Chuck realised that this must be the source of the smell as Lester walked towards him, hands outstretched, holding the item gingerly. His face was twisted in a disgusted grimace as he looked at the item in front of him.

Chuck stepped away from Lester, to the edge of the circle but was pushed back by one of the sales men.

"Okay guys," Chuck said in a nervous voice. "This isn't funny, but it's very disgusting." Chuck gagged again as Lester held the tin foil wrapped item under his nose. Lester slowly unwrapped the food to reveal…leftovers, spoiled leftovers.

Suddenly the chant of the green shirts changed, "Eat! Eat! Eat!"

"You know, I'd rather _not_ eat that if you don't mind." Chuck backed away in disgust, chuckling nervously, only to be pushed back towards Lester and the…_thing_.

The door to the Break Room burst open, revealing the Burbank Buy More Manager, Michael Tucker. Michael Tucker was stocky and bald. He had a slightly muscular frame-having played linebacker for his college football team.

"What's going on in here?" He questioned as he looked around at his employees. Some of the green shirts had dispersed back to their respective tables.

"Uh n-n-nothing Mr Tucker, sir." Lester answered, shoving the spoiled leftovers into Jeff's hands and straightening his Nerd Herd shirt, trying to look respectable.

"Good. That means you can get to work. You," Mr Tucker pointed at Lester, "take him," this time he pointed at Jeff, "and get to work in the cage." Lester grabbed Jeff, who was still holding the leftovers, and pulled him towards the back of the store where the cage was located. "The rest of you can all go back to work." Mr Tucker said to the rest of the room before walking out, the door swinging shut behind him.

Morgan followed Chuck back to the Nerd Herd desk.

"Does Mr Tucker seem angrier than usual to you?" Chuck asked Morgan who, instead of serving any of the thirty odd customers that were circling the store, was sitting on the edge of the Nerd Herd desk.

"Do you think I should grow a beard?" Morgan asked as he stroked his smooth chin. At Chuck' incredulous look, Morgan said, "yeah, but apparently he's having some trouble with the wife. You know our old Assistant Manager, Harry Tang, liked to watch romantic comedies and he cries whilst making love."

Chuck sat up straight in his seat. "What?"

"You know, the horizontal mambo? The-"

"Yeah I know what 'making love' means." Chuck said hastily, cutting Morgan off. "But, wow. Seriously? That is…"

"I know, I know." Morgan nodded his understanding.

"You know Morgan," Chuck said looking around the store, "I think you have to get back to work."

Morgan looked up and saw the line at the tills. "Oh man. Come on. Do I have to? I mean dealing with the customers makes me want to tear off my own arm just to have something to throw at them. Their whiny and th- No, not you Ma'm! Talk later Chuck." Morgan said hurriedly as he chased the woman who had unfortunately walked past the Nerd Herd desk as Morgan was complaining. Chuck couldn't contain his laugh as the woman swatted at Morgan as though he was a fly.

* * *

Suffice to say, the rest of Chuck's day was dull. Which was a good thing in Chuck's opinion.

Every now and then Morgan would come up to him and start moaning about work, his lack of love life. To be honest, Chuck wasn't surprised about the latter. After seeing Morgan follow _every_ hot woman who walked through the sliding doors into the Kingdom of Buymoria-_Morgan_- Chuck kinda felt sorry for the woman who dated him. Oh, Morgan was a nice guy and all but sometimes he was just…_clueless_. Morgan would quickly return to his position at the tills whenever Mr Tucker would come out of his office…or when there was beautiful woman waiting to be served. He always moved faster when it was the latter.

* * *

Soon, it was the end of his shift. Slipping his arms into his Buy More jacket he said goodbye to Morgan and headed out of the sliding doors. Chuck clipped on his helmet, hopped onto his bike and started his journey back to his apartment, where his dinner lay in separate pieces, waiting to be mixed together to form something edible. Where his homework, waited unfinished. Chuck was, understandably, more excited about the former.

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**Thanks for reading. We hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please review, you know you want to-unless you don't.**

**Hope you enjoyed the Buy More and Morgan. It was tough to write in the Buy More, I'm not sure why, but the next chapter is back in school so it should be up quicker, hopefully. *Crosses fingers***

**Until then, good bye and thanks for reading.**

**TeamBartowski.  
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	7. Chapter 6

**Hello to all faithful readers. Me and Erica would like to apologise for the delay between updates. We do have reasons for it though. For the past week and a half i was ill and before that Erica was ill. Then there comes exam stress, writer's block and so on so forth.**

**We would like to thank you all for the brilliant reviews, they have really helped and we promise to try and up date our story more often. I'd better go right now since i'm in the middle of and ICT lesson.**

**Thank you all for reading and we hope you enjoy this chapter.**

**D-no**

**TeamBartowski.**

* * *

"Mr Casey," The principle said sternly, looking at the pupil occupying the chair opposite her. "This is the _third_ time you have been called to my office. Term started _two_ days ago. I'll make one thing clear Mr. Casey. You cannot go around punching people just because they do not like Ronald Reagan."

John Casey remained stoic as Principle Beckman reamed him out. He wasn't one to disobey rules, rules were there for a reason- and Casey understood that- but the kid had had the ignorance to criticize Reagan in front of him. He'd had that broken nose coming.

"Now, for your punishment. Usually, seniors are mentors to one of the younger pupils. Because of your blatant lack of respect for school rules recently, you will be given two pupils to mentor."

Casey's stoic face dropped briefly and his shock and anger at his punishment showed before he was able to recollect himself and his stoic mask returned. Casey wasn't one to show emotion, except maybe to Carina, his girlfriend, and he knew that he must be punished for his actions but this, _this_ was...insufferable. He knew this year that he was going to have to mentor one of those younger pukes but now he had to mentor two. _Two._ This had to be Hell. He couldn't wait 'til he finished school; he'd already gotten a place in the Marine Corps. He planned to spend the next few years slowly but surely making his way up the ranks. Maybe Colonel. Or General. The thought brought a brief smile to Casey's face before he remembered the situation he was in.

"If you would follow me, you can meet your mentees. You will then take them to the Library and explain to them what you will be doing for the rest of this year. And, need I remind you Casey, that this is _not_ optional." Principle Beckman rose from behind the desk and walked to the door of her office. She walked through the door and into the Reception, Casey following obediently, silently cursing his luck.

Casey looked to the only two occupied chairs in the room and struggled to bite back a groan.

* * *

Sarah was bored. She had been called out of math and she still didn't know why. Foot tapping the carpeted floor Sarah stared unseeingly out of the window and the mockingly gorgeous weather. Her boredom was interrupted- thankfully- by the door of the reception opening allowing another student to enter. Chuck. He didn't notice her and went straight to the receptionist.

"I was asked to come see the principle." Confusion at his predicament was clear in his voice.

The twenty-something year old receptionist flashed Chuck a small smile as she replied. "If you would just take a seat," she indicated at the seats where Sarah was sitting, "and Principle Beckman will be out soon."

"Thank you." Chuck said, smiling at the receptionist as he turned to the seating area. Chuck performed a hilarious double take when he saw that one of the seats was already occupied. A goofy smile erupted on his face as he recognized the occupant, who when seeing his smile, returned it with one of her own, just as dazzling smile.

"Hey!" Chuck greeted as he collapsed in the seat next to Sarah. "Why are you here?"

"I don't really know. I got pulled out of math because the principle wanted to see me and that's all I was told."

"You know, if I only had one day left to live, I would live it in math." Chuck said, nodding sagely.

"Why?" Sarah questioned intrigued.

"Because it would seem so much longer." Chuck finished with a smile. Sarah chuckled at Chuck's joke.

"Where did you come from?" She asked.

Chuck rubbed his eyes tiredly, "Computer Tech."

"Fun." Sarah said sarcastically.

"It was supposed to be." Chuck said in a serious tone. "To be honest," he leaned towards Sarah conspiratorially, "I think the teacher may hate me." Chuck flushed once he realized that he and Sarah we nose to nose and he could smell the lavender from her shampoo. He instantly retained his original position, a respectful distance away from Sarah.

The blush did not go unnoticed by Sarah, who gave a small smile as she noticed his reaction to their closeness. She was thankful that the sudden hitch in her breath was not noticed by the slightly colouring Chuck.

Clearing her throat Sarah asked, "Why do you think your teacher hates you."

Chuck prayed to the high heavens that when he answered his voice wouldn't shake. "I honestly have _no_ idea." Chuck silently thanked God when his voice gave away no hint of his embarrassment and sudden flood of emotions that he couldn't name that had flooded him.

Sarah laughed quietly; mentally questioning that sudden rush of emotions she felt when Chuck had leant close to her. _'It's because we're friends'_ Sarah reasoned with herself, _'I've never really had a friend before. Yes that must be it. I haven't had a friend before so this is all new to me.'_ The argument that her mind presented her did little to quell the questions that were running rampant in her mind.

The silent musings of the tow friends were put on hold as the door to the principal's office opened. Their heads snapped up and they saw Principle Beckman and another student. John Casey. Sarah heard that he had punched a kid because he had mouthed off Ronald Reagan. When she had heard that Sarah wondered, not by the first time, why Carina was dating him. He barely showed any emotion unless it was anger.

As Casey, Sarah noticed that everyone-save Carina- called John by his surname, and picked up quickly that if she valued her life then she would do the same, approached she was surprised to see a look of slight disgust on his face.

"Mr. Casey, these are your mentees, Charles Bartowski and Sarah Walker. Mr. Bartowski and Miss Walker John Casey will be your mentor for the rest of the year. If you have any questions you can ask him and I can assure you that Mr. Casey will do anything he can to answer your questions. Right Mr. Casey?" The principle said.

Looking at Casey, Chuck knew that Mr. Casey would do anything he can to _kill_, not help them. Maybe it was the look of anger on his face. Maybe it was the grunt he gave the principle as they were introduced. Or maybe it was just the glare that Casey kept trained on him. Chuck gave a nervous chuckle as Casey continued to stare down at them with something akin to hate in his eyes. Chuck had an inkling that having a mentor won't be as enriching as he had previously thought.

"Come on, follow me." Casey grunted and it was the longest thing Sarah had ever heard come out of Casey's mouth.

Casey led them to an empty library and sat down at one of the tables in the corner, motioning for Chuck and Sarah to do the same. The library was a large square room, about fifteen meters by fifteen meters, the red carpet complementing the dark mahogany shelves. The shelves broke the room up into smaller segments with books neatly placed into each surface. There were several small tables between the shelves, the coloring worn out by the years of students slamming their books on them.

"I just want to get one thing straight. I don't want you to talk to me. I don't want you to look at me and I don't want you to breathe near me. Got it?" Casey looked at the stunned faces of the two sixteen year olds and mentally congratulated himself for a job well done. It was always fun to scare the younger pupils. "You may think that I care about your lady feelings. I don't." Looking back and fore between Sarah and Chuck once more before walking out of the library, leaving Chuck and Sarah alone.

"He's a happy person inside. I appreciate that about him." Chuck said causing Sarah to burst in to a fit of laughter with Chuck joining her not long after her. Her laugh was harmonic and he strove to do whatever he could to hear it more often.

* * *

After school Chuck walked out of school to be met with the sight of the blonde bombshell that tended to invade his daydreams, waking and sleeping. He knew that wasn't a good thing.

"Hey." Chuck said as he walked up to Sarah. "Are you waiting for someone?"

"Yeah, you." Sarah smiled as Chuck's eyebrows shot up in shock. "I figured that since you live next door we might as well walk to and from school together."

"Yeah –I- uh- of course. Smart thinking, that." Chuck rambled. _She wants to walk to and from school with me. Calm yourself Bartowski. It's nothing big.' _Chuck thought, trying not to hyperventilate at the idea of someone as beautiful as Sarah wanting to do _anything_, let alone walk with him._ 'Like hell! She wants to WALK with ME._' Chuck quickly snapped back to the present realizing that he had probably been standing there for the past five minutes with an idiotic smile on his face.

"So shall we…" Chuck tilted his head towards the school exits and trailed off, knowing that Sarah would understand his unfinished question.

"Yeah, sure."

They remained silent for a few minutes, each wondering what to talk about.

"By the way, I know I didn't tell you at the time but you play the piano and sing really well." Sarah's smile rose as she looked at Chuck who had blushed at her words.

"Thank you. I haven't played in so long but it was fun to play again." Chuck stopped himself before he started rambling, as he tended to do when he was nervous.

"How long have you been learning?"

"Since I was five I think, can't really remember that far back but yeah, around about eleven years. How 'bout the violin, how long have you been learning that?"

Sarah was surprised that he remembered that tid bit about her, but didn't let her surprise show. "Since I was eight. I've kinda had a love for classical music since I was young. I think I get that from my mom. I really wanted to learn so I started pestering my dad until he gave in a let me have violin lessons. I love playing. I know it may sound stupid but playing the violin, it kinda gives me an escape from reality. You know. I can just concentrate on the music and the story it's telling. Forget everything else." Sarah stopped as she realized how much of herself she was giving away to someone she barely knew. "Do you have any sisters or brothers?"

"Yes, I have just the one sister. Eleanor, Ellie." Chuck smiled as he thought about his sister.

"Is she in high school?"

"No actually, she's in university. When she got accepted into UCLA we lugged everything from Denver, Colorado to LA."

"Wow, you're from Denver?"

"Well I was born in Louisiana but my parents moved around a bit 'til we settled in Denver. What about you? Where are you from?" Chuck watched as Sarah's smile suddenly disintegrated and a fleeting look of panic took its place before her face turned into an eerie stony mask. Realizing she didn't want to, or couldn't talk about it Chuck quickly said, "You know what, it doesn't matter."

Sarah raised her eyes to Chuck's and felt her face transform to accommodate a smile again. She was thankful that Chuck had let her back out of answering the question. She wasn't allowed to tell anyone about her past and even if she were allowed to she wouldn't be able to. Ever since her father had enlisted her help in his "work" she became closed off, moving from state to state, staying for a shorter period of time in each one. Friends became far and few between until she decided that she didn't need friends, she had her dad and they were doing well together, they didn't need anyone else. Just the two of them. But it was different now. It was only her now. She had been prepared to keep it that way, until she met Chuck. Maybe he could be her friend. Sarah smiled at the thought.

"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow." Chuck's statement sounded like a query as his voice lilted.

Sarah, realizing that they had reached their destination, replied, "Yeah. I'll see you tomorrow." Offering Chuck one last smile, Sarah walked towards her house.

* * *

As Sarah walked through the door her face still held the smile that she had given to Chuck. Alex and Carol, who had been home all day noticed and smiled to each other.

"How was your day sweetie?" Carol asked.

"Today was…great. Yeah, today was great." Sarah gave them both a smile before retreating to her room. _'Today was definitely great.'_ Sarah thought to herself as she closed the door to her room.

Downstairs Alex and Carol were in shock. Every day they had asked Sarah that same question she would give them a mediocre response, if she gave them a response at all.

Today was a great day.

* * *

Chuck's smile evaporated as he entered the dark house. He was ecstatic. Yes he was. He had been asked by Sarah to walk home with her. If he knew how, he would dance. But looking around the empty house the happiness left him. He had no one to share it with. He missed Ellie. He missed his dad. He missed his mom. A tear forger its way down Chuck's face before being forcibly wiped off. Chuck composed himself before he started making dinner. Chuck forced himself to think of the highlights of his day to get into a happier mood. Surprisingly it worked as the same memory was stuck on a loop inside his mind. Sarah walking home with him. Chuck smiled to himself.

'_Today was a great day.'_

* * *

**We hope you enjoyed. Please review and thank you for reading.**

**TeamBartowski.**


	8. Chapter 7

**Hey all.**

**So we said that we may not update till our exams are over but we decided to give you all a small treat since our exams will start pretty soon. This chapter didn't take long to write and it's one of the longest chapters we've put up so hopefully that will tide till our exams actually finish.**

**Thank you to all those who have read and reviewed, the reviews are greatly appreciated.**

**Disclaimer: We don't own Chuck, I check my mail every morning but *shrugs*, no such luck. Yet.**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter.**

**D-no  
**

**TeamBartowski.**

* * *

Chuck smiled as Sarah waved him over to eat with her, Carina and Carina's rather…colourful friends. Oh yeah, and there was Casey. There was as much to say about him as he himself said. Which was close to nothing. Taking a seat next to Sarah, Chuck dug in to the schools ideal of a 'healthy' lunch, his morning 'meeting' with the Jocks forgotten. The Jocks made it their business to meet Chuck at the gates every morning and welcome him to school in their own, rather brutal fashion.

"So how was your morning?" Chuck asked Sarah, as Carina chatted to her friends.

"Same old, same old. Maths was easy as hell and English, well English is English. Dull and pointless. Don't why I'm gonna need it." Sarah replied, briefly moving her concentration from feeding herself to Chuck and flashing a smile at him. A smile that he couldn't refrain from returning.

"Spoken in the true words of Homer Simpson, 'English? Who needs that? I'm never going to England.'"

Sarah gave a small chuckle, causing Carina to look up in shock. She had never heard Sarah laugh like that before. Carina stared at Chuck and Sarah smiling at each other, an air of cute awkwardness around each other. Carina smiled to herself as plots began to manifest themselves in her mind.

"So Chuck, can I call you Chuck?" Alice asked as she manoeuvred herself closer to Chuck, seeming to have the same idea as Carina.

"Uh, I guess. Everyone calls me that." Chuck said nervously as he watched Alice making her way closer to him, the smile on her face reminded him of the predatory smile a lioness wore as she stalked her prey. It wasn't comforting. Chuck slid away from Alice.

"I heard you're a funny guy." Alice continued, grinning at Chuck's audible gulp.

"I-uh- guess." Chuck turned to Sarah for help, "Sarah?" He asked pleadingly, only to be met with a frosty glare. _'What the Hell is that about?'_ Chuck thought but was distracted by Alice moving ever closer.

Sarah knew that Alice was just playing with Chuck but as she watched the brunette edge her way closer to him, Sarah felt something tug inside her, something she was unsure of. Sarah Walker hated to be unsure.

A not so quite "Moron" could be heard from Casey as he rolled his eyes at the antics that were presently occurring, making him want to puke.

However, Carina's smile grew at she took in Chuck's bashfulness and Sarah's anger. _'Oh this is going to be good.'_ Carina nodded to herself while her smile took a sly edge.

"Hey Chuckles." A loud booming voice saved Chuck from more torture, but Chuck couldn't be glad for the interruption when he recognised the voice. The Jocks. As they past the table each of them patted Chuck on the back in what appeared to be a show of camaraderie. However, Chuck new that it was all for show as their well aimed slaps caused, his already bruised and beaten back to tense up in pain.

* * *

Chuck jumped slightly as a paper was tossed haphazardly onto his desk. Picking it up, he saw that it was the rest that Mr Milbarge had set them. It was the last lesson of the day and Chuck was looking forward to going home and getting something to eat before having to leave to get to the Buy More.

'_Full marks.'_ Chuck nodded to himself as a smile crept onto his face at his achievement. _'Maybe now Mr Milbarge and the Jocks would ease up on me a little.'_ From the dirty looks he was getting from the Jocks _and_ Mr Milbarge, that wasn't going to happen anytime soon, or ever. The rest of the lesson went by uneventfully, with only the rare glare from the Jocks and soon it was time to go home.

* * *

Emmett Milbarge prided himself in knowing everything there was to know about his pupils and colleagues. Right at this moment Emmett Milbarge was frustrated. He was frustrated because there was one pupil of his that he didn't know everything about. Charles Bartowski.

That was going to change right now. Logging on to the computer he hacked into the pupil's database. He didn't bother using another username, the receptionist wouldn't even realise that someone had hacked into a private database. No one in this school would notice. He was that good. Typing in 'Bartowski, Charles' into the search bar, he didn't have to wait long.

'_Thank God for modern technology.'_ He thought to himself as he double clicked on the link to Mr Bartowski's information.

As he read, his eyebrows slowly rose as each byte of information passed through his mind.

"Such a tragic story. Shame if this were to get out." Emmett Milbarge chuckled to himself. He was good, he was the best.

* * *

Sarah leaned on the cerulean gate, face pointed towards the school as she waited for Chuck to come out so that they could walk home together. Truth be told, this was the part of the day that she looked forward to the most. Chuck was different from the other boys she had met. He was funny, kind and adorable, especially when he got nervous and began to babble. He seemed to do that a lot. He was also he first ever friend. Not that she would begrudge that truth upon anyone. Saying that, she had a small urge to tell Chuck but she dismissed it, she couldn't tell anyone, even Chuck. He'd probably think her weird if he were to know about her past, he'd probably leave her, like everyone else she cared about did. Because she cared about Chuck, yes she did. He was the only person she could truly be herself- or as much of herself as she could be- around him. It was… freeing. She hadn't felt that way in a while and she intended to do all that she could to keep feeling that way, and for that she would have to do everything in her power to stay Chuck's friend. A small smile grew on her face at the thought. She liked that plan, liked it a lot.

As she was waiting a group of girls she didn't know and, looking at them, didn't _want _to know walked up to her.

"Oh look girls it's the fosterling." The apparent leader of the group said with a hint of condescension in her tone.

"She looks like she was picked up off the streets. I mean look at that hair. It makes me want to puke." Said someone else, shuddering to impress her point on Sarah.

It worked. Sarah shrunk into herself slightly. She was used to being invisible. It was so much easier; no one paid you any attention so no one could say or do anything to hurt you. But now that she was being confronted, she was unsure of what she should say to make them leave her alone. She had an urge to beat them up. Yes, Sarah could in fact beat them up. However un-father like her father had been, he had at least taught her how to defend herself whenever the time called for it. Sarah dampened down the urge to punch the "leader" in the face, it was socially unacceptable and if she did, there would be no chance of her slipping of their radar and returning back to the shadows.

"I know right." Said the tallest girl with a strong southern twang.

"Now, now girls. Didn't your mummies ever teach you your manners?" A voice from Sarah said in a singsong voice. Sarah spun around to see Carina glaring at the group and a few feet behind her Sarah could see John Casey, with, surprisingly, a smirk on his face as he watched his girlfriend stand up to the other girls.

"Carina." The "leader" said in obvious disgust.

"Nice to see you to, Hailey." Carina said, her voice still sickly sweet, as she gave a jaunty wave to show that she wasn't affected by Hailey's clear disgust. "Now listen here," Sarah was surprised at the sudden menacing tone Carina's voice adopted. "You are going to sashay back to you pretty pink BMW's and leave Sarah alone. You will not talk to her, let alone look at her. If you do anything to hurt her you will have me to deal with. Oh and of course, there's always Johnny here." Carina turned her head slightly towards her boyfriend. Her threat was met from a grunt of what sounded like grudging acquiescence. "Sarah is ten times the person that the five of you combined would make." Sarah watched in awe as for the first time in her life, someone stood up for her. "Now scram." Carina said once she finished her threats and Sarah watched in bemusement as the girls actually did as Carina said, without forgetting to throw back a few glares at Carina and Sarah.

Sarah turned to Carina and in a small voice said, "Thank you." She blinked a few times to remove the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes.

"It's no problem." Carina said with a comforting smile. "You realise that I meant what I said. You're ten times the person they could ever be put together." Sarah smiled gratefully. "You've never really had someone to look after you have you?" At that Sarah looked at the ground as her smile turned into a frown. "Well, now you do." Carina's voice turned back to its usual cheerful self. "Now me and Johnny here are gonna head home. You wanna join us or are you gonna wait for Chuckles?"

Sarah gave a small laugh at Carina's nickname and declined her invitation to join her and her boyfriend on their walk home, choosing to wait for Chuck.

* * *

Around the same time Sarah was approached by her unknown adversaries, so was Chuck although his bruises reminded him that his adversaries weren't unknown and that they more than definitely deserved their places on the football team.

"Charlie, thank God we caught you. Thought you were going to leave without a goodbye? Now that hurts, that really hurts. But I know you must be hurting more then I am." Daniel said, in a forced sympathetic tone.

"What do you mean?" Chuck asked, confused.

"Well, you know. Your Mom leaving," a smile grew on Daniel's face when Chuck stiffened at his comment, "then your poor old Dad, just ups a leaves you and your sister to your own devices. No wonder you're such a screw up. Your sister must be pissed at you."

"Why?" Chuck asked through his teeth.

"Well, you parents left because of you. Isn't that right?"

"That's not true." Chuck said calmly, but he felt as if he had just been punched in the gut. "now if you'll excuse me, I've got to go." Chuck turned to walk away but tripped over one of the Jocks outstretched leg. The Jocks found this absolutely hilarious and burst out laughing. Chuck closed his eyes and ignored them. His palms ached when he rested on them to push himself up. He had grazed them when he had fallen.

"Oh come on Charlie. There are no lies between us. I mean, before you were born everything must have been fine. It must have been all happy families. Then you came along. Mom leaves. Dad leaves. And your sister is left to pick up the pieces. I feel for your sister Chuckie, she had to look after your inconsiderate self because of you. What was it Chuckie? Weren't you good enough for them or did you just scare them away?" Daniel said, his blue eyes danced with mischief and bemusement.

"Stop it. Just leave me alone." Chuck said, cursing himself silently when his voice cracked.

"I would really like to meet your sister Chuckie. I'm willing to bet she's some type of whore." The rest of the group sniggered.

Chuck was a non-violent person, never really rose to the bait of the other bullies. But then again the other bullies had just used the wrong bait. Chuck would never try to defend himself. But when someone tries to hurt someone he cares about he gets really protective.

"Don't you dare call my sister a whore!" Chuck yelled, slowly walking towards the Jocks, hands clenched so tightly that his knuckles were white.

"I'm sorry, do you prefer the term slut?"

Chuck moved towards Daniel. To do what? He had no idea. Before he was even foot away from Daniel one of the Jocks landed a punch on his abdomen, causing him to groan in pain and fold into himself. Another punch followed, then another. Finally, the Jocks stopped, most likely because their fists hurt rather than sympathy for Chuck. As they left Daniel turned to look at the ball that was Chuck and said, "See you bright and early tomorrow…Home wrecker."

* * *

Chuck was curled up into a ball on the ground, trying to protect as much of himself as he could while the beating had ensued. As the Jocks walked away he could hear their laughter. He waited for a few minutes after the sound of laughter no longer reached his ears, to make sure that he wouldn't meet up with them again and, more so, to give himself time to recover enough so that he could stand up. As he neared the entrance of the school he saw Sarah waiting for him. As soon as he saw her, it was as if the pain from the beating and he smiled. A smile that she reciprocated with her own dazzling grin. But as quickly as the pain was forgotten it returned causing Chuck to stiffen, a move that Sarah did not miss.

When he reached her he could see the concern in her eyes as she asked, "Are you okay?"

With a reassuring smile that had been perfected over the years of constant bullying and hidden bruises from his sister, Chuck replied, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just had a little fall on the way out. Nothing to worry about. Actually, when I was six I-"

"Chuck." Sarah interrupted before he could go into full babbling mode. "You're babbling again." She said with a small smile. "Come on lets get home, can't wait to do my Maths homework." Sarah said sarcastically, with an eye roll that Chuck couldn't help but laugh at. A laugh that was cut short in its prime when the pain in his abdomen intensified ten fold.

Chuck saw Sarah's smile disappear and cut off her worried questions before they could start. "Actually, I'm running a bit late for work. Do you mind if I just go straight there?"

"Yeah sure. I'll see you tomorrow." Sarah said in a cheery voice although Chuck knew that it was for show because her smile didn't reach her eyes, for that he was all the more grateful. As he was turning away, a hand on his elbow stopped him and he turned back to be met with Sarah's worried gaze and a small frown that, he couldn't help but notice, didn't make her any less beautiful.

"Chuck, be careful okay?" Sarah knew that he wasn't telling her the whole story and she knew that she shouldn't push it. If he wanted to tell her then he would and in the mean time she would just have to prove to him that she was worth confiding in.

"I will." Chuck reassured her with a blazing smile that lit up his whole face.

Sarah relaxed slightly and let go of his arm.

As he walked away Chuck kept his head down and his shoulders hunched so that his stomach wouldn't hurt as much as it would when he stood his full height.

Because he kept his head down he didn't see Sarah watching him from the school gates, even glancing back with a concerned frown as she rushed to catch up to Carina and John.

* * *

Chuck was grateful when he arrived at the Buy More to find that his shift would be spent in the cage. That would make everything easier. He could sit down and there was no one to put up a mask for, except for the occasional- frequent- Morgan visits. But it was a welcomed distraction, except when he tried to put the hard drive that he was meant to replace back into the tower because he was laughing at Morgan's attempt to imitate Jayne Cobb and failing spectacularly. Morgan just cannot do gun crazy. Although his shift at the Buy More was fun he couldn't wait to get home and just sleep. His stomach was on fire, Morgan had made it his duty to keep Chuck laughing, and he had and now Chuck was paying for his friend's kindness.

* * *

When Chuck woke up the next day he took a couple of painkillers to stem the pain, at least, until he could take another couple of pills. When he came out of the shower he cringed as he was greeted by the black and blue bruises in the mirror. Previous knowledge told Chuck that it would be a while before the bruises would fully fade. It was going to be hard to hide in PE, but he would manage.

As Chuck was getting ready to leave he heard a knock on the door and went to answer it.

"Hi." Sarah said brightly, but Chuck could tell the underlying tone of concern. Chuck smiled to put her at ease and quickly excused himself to get his bag.

Chuck was grateful that on the walk to school, and throughout the day, Sarah refrained from asking if he was okay, or what had happened yesterday, as he knew she was itching to do.

He wasn't greeted by the Jocks this morning, of course throughout the day, whenever he was alone, they would pass by him and shove him roughly out of their way while calling him "Home wrecker" so that only he could hear them.

* * *

By the end of the day, the bruises weren't hurting as much as they did this morning and Chuck was able to forget about the Jocks. He was looking forward to walking home with Sarah and he didn't let anything ruin that. He had to make it up to her for leaving her yesterday. He rushed through the corridors so as not to be late but skidded to a stop outside his Computer Tech room where the light was still on. Curiosity got the better of him. He knew the saying but stupidity killed the cat, curiosity was framed. As he looked through the window and into the classroom he almost did a double take.

Mr Milbarge was currently talking to the Jocks and the Jocks were…paying him. A lot of money it looked like. Mr Milbarge was now writing in a small pocket notebook. As Chuck watched in confusion Mr Milbarge disappeared behind his desk and came out with a pile of papers. As Chuck watched Mr Milbarge handed the Jocks the papers. As Chuck watched Mr Milbarge handed the Jocks the answers to their next test. Chuck realised that the Jocks would shortly be evacuating the room so he walked- more like ran- out of the school.

When he reached the entrance he slowed down. He didn't want to worry Sarah, again. Plastering a big smile on his face made his way to Sarah who was leaning against the gates to the school and looking away from the school giving Chuck time to drink her in.

She was leaning on her shoulder, arms crossed. Her left leg was bent and her right hip was pushed out. Put together they gave her a nonchalant and very sexy. Wait. Did he just think that? Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. That wasn't right. He wasn't meant to think that about his friend, _best_ friend, no matter how beautiful she looked and the way her eyes shone when she smi-. _Shit!_

Chuck realised that Sarah had turned, and was currently waving at him. Chuck waved back and shoved all of his previous and _wrong_, thoughts and prayed she hadn't caught him staring.

Sarah felt like she was being watched and turned around to find Chuck staring at her. She blushed as she took in the intensity of his look and waved. _'He must be deep in thought.'_ Sarah thought as it took Chuck a full minute to realise that she as waving to him. As they walked home Sarah couldn't help but notice every shift of Chuck's arm against hers.

As Chuck walked into his apartment with a promise to see her tomorrow, Sarah couldn't help but feel as if a cloud had suddenly covered the sun. Sarah shook her head roughly and walked towards her home. At that thought, the cloud that had previously covered the sun disappeared.

That night as Sarah tossed and turned in her bed she tried to make sense of why her thoughts kept returning to Chuck. As Sarah slowly drifted off to sleep she came to the conclusion that it was just the novelty of their friendship.

* * *

Right next-door Chuck was also tossing and turning but as he fell asleep, he came to a different conclusion. He didn't know why it had happened so fast but he did know that he was crushing on his next-door neighbour, his best friend.

He couldn't have feelings for her. Even if he did, he couldn't do anything about it. Not when she obviously didn't have feelings for him, couldn't have feelings for him. Chuck was conscious of the fact that Sarah was so out of his league. It was a surprise that she was even his friend.

If he couldn't have feelings for her, then why did he want to add boyfriend to the list.

* * *

**Thank you all for reading. Reviews, good and bad, are always welcome.**

**D-no**

**TeamBartowski.**


	9. Chapter 8

**Hey y'all.**

**We're baaaaaack! Rejoice!**

**We would like to apologise for making you wait so long for the next chapter, but we do have some reasonable excuses, and some... not so reasonable:**

**-We had a load of -v. important- exams so revision took up alot of our time.**

**-Then after the exams, when I was hoping to post this chapter up, my (D-no)brother started redecorating his room, taking apart his computer at the same time. The computer containing all the plans for Chuck vs High School and any work me and Erica may have done on this chapter. So yes, if you want to blame anyone for elongating this hiatus, blame him. BUT, the reason you guys are actually getting the update now, I found me memory stick in the mess of my revision notes and realised -genius that I am- I backed up ALL of the documents for the fics, and I started working on this chapter some what immediately.  
**

**-Sleep. (Would that count as a reasonable excuse?)**

**Anywho, I hope you'll forgive us for this hiatus.**

**Thank you for all your reviews that had us itching to have our exams over just so we could post this chapter up. Thank you for sticking with us for the almost three month hiatus. We hope you all enjoy this chapter, and we hope it was worth the wait.**

**Please review and tell us what you think, compliments, constructive criticism are always welcome (mainly the former).**

**D-no**

**TeamBartowski.**

**Disclamier: We do not own Chuck, but my birthday is getting ever closer so who knows.  
**

* * *

"Burbank Buy More, Nerd Herd. How may I help you?" Lester answered the phone, the little bit of work he actually allowed himself to do. "Uh-huh. Of course ma'am. We'll send someone over ASAP. Would you by any chance have a personal num-" Lester shrugged as the dial tone sounded, he had to give it a try. He was having a dry season. He blamed it on the weather, of course. It was getting colder - colder for Burbank that is - and there were fewer women on the streets. Yes, that was the reason. Frowning, he realised that there was no one to delegate the job of driving all the way to the high school for the quick fix. Well, there _was_ Jeff, but he was Jeff, and this was at the high school. Full of young adults…specifically young _female_ adults. It was best not thought about.

He went to see Mr Tucker, walking in without knocking, only to be met with a sight he prayed that he never saw again.

Mr Tucker having a romantic one-on-one moment with… a Danish. As Lester opened the door, Mr Tucker jerked the Danish away from his mouth.

"Excuse me! What do ya think you're doing in here without knocking? Anything could have been happenin' in here!"

"I'm sorry, it's just… oh my eyes!" Lester whimpered, his hand thrown over his eyes.

"Well you're here now. What do you want?

Lester took a deep breath and explained the situation to Mr Tucker, still using his hand to shield his eyes from further damage.

"Why can't you go?"

"I'm the only Nerd Herder left, sir. And it wouldn't be best to leave the Nerd Herd desk unmanned."

"What about Jeff?"

So was the temptation to raise his eyebrow at Mr Tucker's brainless question, that Lester dropped his raised hand and did so, momentarily forgetting what he had previously seen.

Mr Tucker had the decency to wince and look chagrined at his ridiculous idea.

"Uh, Mr Tucker, sir?" A voice from the door was heard.

"What is it Grimes. What has Jeff done now?"

"Oh, it's not that, sir. It's just, the Nerd Herd call came from Burbank High School…" Morgan left his sentence unfinished, the lilt in his voice suggesting that his idea was obvious.

"We have no time for guessing games Grimes." Mr Tucker said in a deep voice, one that exuded authority, or was _meant_ to exude authority – It was lunch and he was hungry… and he hadn't gotten laid in a while, a long while. Eating was his reprieve nowadays.

"Yes, Mr Grimes. Pray tell this genius idea of yours." Lester added.

"Chuck goes to Burbank High School." Morgan said, his tone exasperated at his audience's foolishness. "I can call him up and tell him to go and do…whatever needs to be done."

"Yes. You do that Grimes, and Patel you can go back to the desk. And next time, _knock_. But believe me, there needn't be a next time unless you're on fire. Understand? A man's body is his temple, and my temple needs a sacrifice every once in a while." Once again, becoming enraptured with the calorie filled, sweetened pastry.

Lester and Morgan hastily retreated.

He could do this. He knew he could do this. So why couldn't he do it? It was just a simple question. _'Open your mouth Bartowski, and _speak_,'_ Chuck thought to himself. His palms were sweating so that he could barely hold on to his tray as he and Sarah sat on their usual table. Thankfully the table was empty, for now.

Chuck turned to Sarah, mouth open. His breath caught as he found her already looking at him, and he could have sworn he saw a faint blush colour her perfect cheeks as she suddenly found her lunch very interesting. _'Just your imagination Chuck. Now stop stalling and ask, you wuss!'_ His mind silently berated him. He shook his head and opened his mouth once again.

"Sarah?" She looked up at him, blue met warm brown and suddenly he lost his voice.

When he didn't speak for two full seconds, Sarah found it necessary to prompt him. "Yes?"

"Well, you know the assignment we were set in music?" Not waiting for Sarah to respond, Chuck's nerves caused him to hurry on. "Well, I was wondering if maybe you want to partner up with me?" Immediately denoting the idea as stupid he hurried on. "I know you may not want to, I mean there's a whole class of people you can pick from but I was hoping that maybe you would like to." Chuck paused to retrieve the oxygen that saw fit to leave his body in his speech. He had kept his more-than-friend feelings hidden. He knew that he had a crush on Sarah. That was obvious, as was the reason. She was beautiful, smart, funny and she actually seemed interested in _him_ and what he had to say.

The night he realised his crush, Chuck vowed to himself that he would do nothing unless Sarah actually reciprocated his feelings. He knew that he had no chance of that happening in the near future, or ever. Sarah saw him as a friend, and only that. She really had no reason to see him as anything more, she was all of the above and he was a nerd. It was a miracle she actually wanted to be friends with him. Not that he thought she was shallow or anything, more that he knew how demanding and cruel society could be. So Chuck pushed his feelings to the back of his mind, which is very hard for someone like him to do, and resolved that he would be nothing more than Sarah's friend.

"Chuck?"

"Uh-huh?" Chuck looked back up, cheeks tinged with his embarrassment.

"I would love to." A smile grew on her face and Chuck wasted no time in reciprocating the gesture.

That was how Carina and her friends found them, and they wasted no time in guessing what had caused them to be so happy. Some guesses caused both Chuck and Sarah's cheeks to colour in embarrassment. Embarrassment that Sarah couldn't help but think made Chuck even more adorable.

Halfway through lunch, Chuck felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. Checking the I.D he flipped it open and pressed it to his ear.

"Hey Morgan. You know, this isn't a good time, I'm kinda in school."

The rest of the table listened to Chuck's half of the conversation.

"Isn't there anyone else?"

"Did they say what was wrong?"

"Okay, I'll do it."

"No problem, buddy. See you then."

Shoving the phone back into his pocket, he groaned and started to stand. "Sorry guys, I gotta go. Apparently there's something wrong with the Principal's computer and there's no one they can send so they asked me to do it."

"Where do you work?" The question came from an intrigued Carina.

"Burbank Buy More. I'm a Nerd Herder."

"Seriously? But you're only sixteen."

"I'm good with computers and I like working with them. So I do what I enjoy and get paid for it. It's a good deal. I'll see you later, Sarah." Chuck gave a small wave and made his way to the cafeteria doors, depositing his half eaten food on his way.

* * *

"Excuse me. You called the Nerd Herd about a computer problem." Chuck said to the receptionist once he arrived.

"Yes, I did. Aren't you a student?" Her gaze was questioning as it met his.

"Yes, but I work at Burbank Buy More as part of the Nerd Herd. One second," Chuck said as he plunged his hand into the mess that was his school bag. After a few impatient seconds of searching he passed his Nerd Herd I.D to the receptionist whose confusion quickly melted. "So what's the problem?"

"Well, everything was fine yesterday, but this morning we keep getting error messages every time we try to open a document, whether it's a database, a spreadsheet or a simple Word document. It only seems to be my computer and the Principal's. No one else has complained."

Frowning, Chuck walked to the opposite side of the desk and gestured at the faulty computer, "May I?"

The receptionist was quick to move, offering him her seat as well. As Chuck manoeuvred through the plentiful files, he began to hum.

Choosing an innocent looking file, he double clicked, not at all surprised when a small window popped up, just as the receptionist had said. The message, however, was confusing.

'_NOT AUTHORISED TO ACCESS FILE. PLEASE ENTER USERNAME AND PASSWORD.'_

"Did you type in your password and username?" Chuck queried.

"Yes, but it didn't work."

"What files do you have that are meant to have this security?"

"We have the student and staff database but the databases as well as the security for them are on a separate network."

"You have two local networks? The first is obviously to all the computers in the school. What does the second connect to?"

"We have a desktop computer in the school containing the database for both student and staff information. We have to so that the files are better protected against viruses and hackers. Only my computer and Principal Beckman's computer are joined on this network."

Chuck thought for a moment then asked, "Do you by any chance have separate usernames and passwords for the second network?" The receptionist nodded. "Would you mind giving it a try?"

"Of course." She leaned over the keyboard, blocking his view, and began quickly typing. "You were right. The document's been opened. What does that mean?"

"It means that the security has been changed so that it crosses over both networks, but luckily only on the two computers that have access to both networks. Yours and Principal Beckman's. I think someone may have accessed the second network by lowering the security, and when they tried to clean up after themselves they made a mistake with the security."

"I think your gonna have to explain all of that to Principal Beckman. Follow me." As they made their way to the Principal's office, the bell rung and Chuck hesitated but carried on following the worried receptionist. Hoping that this would take a while so that he could miss Physical Education.

After ensuring that Beckman wasn't busy, the receptionist had Chuck explain what he had found out. During his explanation, he watched as the Principal's face grew angrier. As he finished the look on her face made him want to run home and hide under his bed like he used to do when he believed that the monsters in his closet were coming to find him.

"You're saying that someone has hacked into our secure database? Do you know what they were looking for or who the hacker was?"

"No," _'But I can hazard a guess.'_ "But I could find out if you want?" Beckman's thin eyebrows rose and her eyes narrowed.

"You can do that?"

"Sure. Most people forget that when they hack a computer or a network they leave traces. The best can clean up any traces so it's as if no one entered the system. Considering the error this person made with the security, I'm sure that I could find a trace." Chuck said determinedly.

Beckman rose out of her chair and Chuck had to force himself not to take a few steps backwards, towards the door. Moving from behind the desk she gestured for Chuck to take a seat. As he did so, he noticed the gargantuan height difference between the Principal and himself. _'My God, she's tiny! Yet bloody terrifying. I suppose her strict manners make up for her diminutive height.'_

Shaking all thoughts of the Principal's height –_'Seriously Chuck, what the Hell?'-_ he sat down and began typing a string of orders into the computer.

After ten minutes of nothing and silent curses Chuck struck gold. "There we go. We have an entry at quarter to four yesterday."

"Can you tell who was logged on at the time?" Beckman asked. A few more clicks of the mouse and taps of the keyboard had Chuck looking at the log on list from the same date as the hacking.

"There were two people logged on at the time. A Mrs N. Clarks and a Mr E. Milbarge."

"Do you know which one accessed the second network?"

"No, but I can hazard a pretty accurate guess." At Beckman's raised eyebrow, Chuck hurried to continue, "Mr Milbarge, ma'am. He's the only one who could access the second network and get passed the security. He's the Computer Tech teacher and I seriously doubt that the French teacher would possibly know enough about computers to manage to hack into the databases."

"A fair point, Mr Bartowski." Beckman's head nodded and her eyes turned thoughtful. "Could you find out what he was looking for?"

"Not really no, but again I may be able to guess." Chuck said sheepishly, the dots connecting in his mind as he spoke.

"Oh?"

"Well, since starting here, I've not received a warm welcome in Computer Tech. I know that may seem a bit paranoid but I do have a bit more evidence." At Beckman's nod Chuck continued. "A couple of days ago I was approached by a few students in my class who seem to have apt knowledge of my personal history, which they certainly didn't get from me. These students were the same ones who I found yesterday, paying Mr Milbarge for copies of at least two future tests." Chuck watched Beckman closely, hoping against hope that she would connect the dots just as he had moments before.

"Could you identify these students?"

"I could but I think that you could also find their names in a little black notebook that Mr Milbarge keeps on him."

"Okay, Mr Bartowski. Thank you for your help. I will call the Buy More and inform them of the help you gave us today."

"It was nothing ma'am."

"It was above and beyond what you were called to do, so thank you. Rest assured, Mr Milbarge," the name was spoken with such venom that Chuck visibly flinched, "will be dealt with by the end of today." At Chuck's worried look, the Principal continued. "I will leave your name out of my report to the police."

"Thank you, ma'am." Chuck mumbled as he rushed out of the room to the last lesson of the day.

* * *

The next day Mr Milbarge wasn't present in their Computer Tech class. Instead they had a substitute teacher until a new teacher with the appropriate skill set could be hired. The teacher wasn't the only one missing. Several students were also non-existent. The Jocks. Chuck had heard down the grape vine that they had been suspended for a fortnight. A part of him felt fear, he knew that even though his name had been omitted from any official forms – he trusted Beckman to keep her word – the Jocks would work out it was him. Another, larger part of him felt relief. He wouldn't have to deal with their constant bullying, and maybe it would be enough time for the bruises to heal. Alas, it was not to be.

At the end of the day, a truly terrifying sight met Chuck as he made his way towards the gate where Sarah was surely waiting for him. The Jocks, all five of them, were waiting for him just behind the gym. As he walked out of school, they grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and dragged him out of sight of any prying eyes.

"You think we wouldn't know it was you who ratted us out?" Daniel asked, his voice menacing. "Because of you, our work towards our future could be ruined. The scholarships could disappear. All because of a little home wrecker who couldn't keep his nose out of our business."

Chuck raised his hands in front of him, palms outwards, in a placating manner. "Okay, firstly, I didn't tell anyone that it was you who were cheating your way through Computer Tech. I just helped to fix the Principal's computer. It was my _job_. They asked me to find out who was _breaking the law_ and so I did, it just so happened that you were connected to it in someway. Oh, and you're not exactly working towards your future when you're cheating through at least one of your classes." Maybe he shouldn't have added that last bit.

As soon as the last word came out of his mouth he felt a one of the Jock's fists collide in to his stomach and all the oxygen was forced out of his lungs. He collapsed to the ground, struggling to breath. No matter what he did, he couldn't force any air into his lungs. He couldn't really tell what happened over the next five minutes, just that there was a lot of pain. The Jocks left after a while, threats being issued over their shoulders as they left him curled up in the foetal position on the ground.

Everywhere hurt. His back, stomach, face. Every time he moved, the pain flared up and he couldn't help but let a groan escape his bleeding lips. That meant that getting up was near impossible. He knew that he couldn't face Sarah looking like this. There would be questions, lots of questions, questions he didn't want to answer. Slowly, very slowly, he raised his aching body up and leant against the wall of the gym. Ignoring the pain, Chuck reached into his pocket and took out his phone. He sent a quick apology to Sarah, saying that he had to see a teacher and he would be late getting home and for her to head on without him. Hoping she wouldn't see through the lie, Chuck decided to wait for a while and wait for the pain to lessen before he tried standing up again.

Deciding that he had waited long enough, and that there would be no one to see him as he walked out of school, Chuck tried getting up again. He rose onto his knees and then carefully pushed himself onto his unsteady feet. He pushed himself off the wall and started his long walk home.

* * *

Sarah flipped her phone open as the incessant beeping sounded from her bag. She felt disappointment reverberate through her as she read Chuck's text. Did he honestly believe that she would buy that excuse? Something was wrong. Didn't he want to spend time with her? No, that couldn't be it. They'd been walking home together everyday and he had seemed to enjoy her company. Plus, he had asked her to partner up with him for the Music assignment. That would call for more time spent together, and maybe alone. That thought alone made her giddy, her heart pounded faster in her chest and she could feel her cheeks warming.

Allowing Chuck this reprieve Sarah made her way home. She would go over to his on Sunday, under the guise of research for their assignment, and see what was going on. Suddenly the urgency for this day to end and the next to pass quickly grew all the more and Sarah walked home with a small smile on her face.

* * *

The day that followed his beating was a surprisingly fun one. He had called off sick for his shifts at the Buy More, but Mr Tucker had told him that he would not put it down as a sick day, telling him that he deserved time off after the good work he did at the school. Morgan showed up less than ten minutes later on his worryingly old bike, saying that he heard Chuck had the day off and he planned a fun day of N64 and PlayStation games. Chuck laughed at how Morgan recoiled in shock when Chuck told him that he didn't own a N64 – the money he had saved for it all going into the bank after their dad had up and left. Morgan had ordered Chuck to put on some decent clothes and follow him.

Morgan led Chuck to the Santa Monica Pier. "Since you don't have a N64 (seriously, dude?) and my mom kinda has someone over," Morgan shuddered, "we're going to the next best place."

"The pier?"

"Come on, Chuck. Give me something here, buddy." Exasperation coloured his tone. "Not _just_ the pier. The _Arcade_!" He tilted his head back and closed his eyes as if taking in the atmosphere of the arcade. "You've got unhealthy food, classic games, not so classic games all in one place. You're gonna love it here Chuck."

Morgan was right. It was great. So great, he was almost able to forget the pain he was in. Almost. But that didn't stop him from having fun. They kicked butt in all the competitive games, pissing off a few older players. They gathered quite a crowd as Morgan gained the high score on the classic Donkey Kong. They ate enough candy floss to throw up, or enough for Morgan to throw up.

As Morgan and Chuck split up to walk to their respective homes, the pain returned all at once, almost sending him crashing to the floor. He rushed through his door and to the medicine cabinet, swallowing two painkillers. He'd done the right thing and now he was getting punished for it. That wasn't supposed to happen. Damn his luck.

The ringing of the phone brought him out of his dejected reverie as he rushed to reach it before the person on the other side became impatient and hung up.

"Hello?"

"Chuck! How are you little brother?" Ellie's up beat voice brought a smile on his face.

"I'm good! I'm good!" _'Liar.'_ "How are you? How's life at UCLA?"

"Oh my God, Chuck, it's amazing, apart from the workload. There's so much to do, but it's so much fun. And guess what! Guess what!" Ellie was talking so fast; it took a moment for Chuck to catch up.

"What?" He asked automatically.

"I may or may not have met someone." Ellie's voice suddenly became bashful.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, we met on the first day and we seemed to hit it off." Something in Ellie's voice told him that there was more to the story but he was sure that he really didn't want to know.

"That's great El. I'm sure he's awesome." Chuck was startled at Ellie's burst of laughter. "What? What's funny?"

"That's what he says. I swear everything is 'Awesome' to Devon. You're gonna love him, I know it. Anyway, what's been happening in Burbank?"

"Not a lot. Lots of work from school. I got a job at the Buy More."

"Wait, you got a job? Why? We have enough money in our savings."

"I just didn't want you to worry about money problems. You've got enough on your plate what with college and a boyfriend. It's the least I could do. You made sure we got through everything last time and now it's my turn to do something. I want to help, El."

"Okay," she conceded, "as long as it doesn't affect your school work. So, have you got any new friends…girlfriend?"

"In the Buy More there's this other kid called Morgan. He likes exactly the same things as I do, videogames and comic books. Earlier, he showed me the arcade on the pier. It was so cool, El! Plus, he's helping me learn the ropes at the Buy More. Who to talk to, who to run and hide from."

"What are you keeping from me? I know there's something else."

"Well, I met this girl-" Chuck was cut off by a very excited Ellie squeal. "Whoa, Ellie. Don't jump to conclusions. We're just good friends. That's it."

"But you want more?" When Chuck said nothing Ellie took that as a 'yes'. "You should ask her out. What's she like? Does she like you too?"

"Okay, firstly, Ellie, calm, self." Chuck said, chuckling slightly as he spoke. "Okay, in order. Maybe, kinda…well, yes I like her okay. But it's just a small crush and she's _just_ a friend. I can't ask her out unless I want to embarrass myself. Umm, what was your next question? Oh yeah of course. Her name's Sarah. She's amazing: smart, funny, kind and she laughs at all of my stupid jokes. And finally, we're just friends, she doesn't like me like that. I don't see why she would." Chuck mumbled the last part.

"Chuck," Ellie spoke in a calm tone, "you know that's not true. You're a great guy, and don't even try to deny it. Have some faith in your self little brother." There was someone talking in the background. "I'm sorry little brother; I've got to go. I've got a load of work to do, but we'll talk again soon, 'kay? I'll try to come and see you soon. Promise."

"That's great! I can't wait. Talk soon, sis." Chuck said, sadness lacing his voice as the conversation with his older sister came to an end.

As the call ended, the emptiness of the apartment was amplified. He was slowly becoming used to it. But was that such a good thing?

Although, as Chuck sat down to do the yesterday's homework, he felt slightly happier. The talk with his sister had helped, gave him hope that maybe Sarah could like him as more than a friend. They would be spending more time together because of the assignment. He still couldn't believe she had said yes. He couldn't wait to start the assignment.

* * *

**Thank you for reading and we hope you enjoyed this chapter. We'll try to get the next chapter up ASAP.**

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**TeamBartowski.  
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	10. Chapter 9

**Hi everyone. It's been a while hasn't it. And for that we apologise. I was on holiday in the lovely Portugal for a fortnight soon after updating this story and then after that life hit me in a bad way. Erica was working on some of her own stuff, which I know is gonna be awesome.**

**So, yeah. Thank you to everyone who reviewed and/or put the story/ TeamBartowski on alert. It honestly means alot when I open the inbox of our email account to find a ton of emails. Seriously, ask my family, I can't stop smiling for days. So, yes, thanks to you all, and thanks for sticking with this story even though our updating has been slightly, hectic. But, hey, that's life. We start in college in less than a week so I have no idea what will happen but I think that the schedule will make days less hectic and more normal - never thought I'd be saying something that _near_ to a compliment about college.**

**This chapter was Hell because, AgentCharlesCarmichael was right, last chapter lead us straight into Charah time. It was so hard not to just have them make out for the whole chapter. Erica wouldn't be too happy if that's all she got when she opened my emails. I hope y'all enjoy the Charah, I hope we made it believable.**

**I hope you'll be able to bear with us if our updates take a while - We _will _try our best to get them up in a timely manner. *Hides crossed fingers behind back* Just kidding... *Shifty eyes***

**Disclaimer: We don't own Chuck.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Someone knocking on the door woke Chuck from his deep slumber. Groaning, he reached for his new alarm clock, shocked to find that it was nearly two in the afternoon. As he got up pain from his beating flared and he blindly reached for the Advil which he knew would have a permanent spot on his nightstand in the near future.

Opening the door, he was surprised to see Sarah on the other side looking beautiful in a grey top that said 'MAKE TEA, NOT WAR' and khaki shorts. It was the fact that she was standing at his door that surprised Chuck.

Sarah looking beautiful? Well that was a given.

Sarah was staring at him at shock and when he asked why she pointed at his face which he was sure carried the blue and black remnants of Friday's beating. Waving Sarah into the apartment he mumbled a lame excuse of face planting at the Pier the day before.

Sarah eyed him suspiciously, easily seeing through his attempt at lying. After a few seconds she relented her silent inquisition and walked further into his sparsely decorated yet humble abode.

"So…uh…?" Chuck's questioning gaze asked what his mouth couldn't.

"Well, we have that project for music due in next week so I thought that we could get it over with today." The lilt in her voice made it more of a question than a statement.

"Sure. Do you have a computer or laptop or computer we could work on 'cause I haven't set-up my computer yet. Homework can be hell, y'know."

"Yeah, sure. Why don't you get dressed and then we can head over."

With a smile Chuck disappeared into his room. Getting dressed was more of a chore than it usually was, finding the right shirt which, of course, would have to go with his trousers. Ellie really was rubbing off on him if he was this concerned about how he dressed. Rationalising it to himself that he wanted to make a good impression to the rest of Sarah's family, not only Sarah.

A neatly groomed Chuck met Sarah in the lounge. He found her studying at the few photos he had found at the top of the junk he and Ellie had packed to bring with them.

"That's me and my sister, Ellie, visiting the Grand Canyon when I was five and Ellie was eight."

Sarah jumped slightly at the sound of his voice. Turning around she spent a good few seconds appraising Chuck, the intensity of her stare making him fidget slightly.

Sarah realised that she had been staring at Chuck for a while and she felt her cheeks burn as she turned to the door with an almost breathless "Let's go." It wasn't really her fault, Chuck looked so cute and yet hot at the same time, something she never thought was possible. And here it was, standing in front of her wearing a black shirt with the face of someone who looked freakily like John Casey with the words 'PUBLIC RELATIONS' stamped below. He was also studying her in what he must have thought was a subtle manner.

_Oh, God._ She saw him looking at her. _Shit._ He pulled his eyes away and looked straight ahead, hoping to God that the heat he felt on his face didn't mean that he was blushing. Thankfully it took less than a minute to reach her front door.

Chuck breathed a silent sigh of relief when he entered Sarah's room. Meeting her parents was slightly awkward. Sure, they were nice- awesome even- but Chuck wasn't the most co-ordinated person and tripping on the door step and falling flat on his face _in front_ of Sarah's parents sealed the unquestionable deal. Once he got over the embarrassment Chuck realised that he was in _Sarah Walker's_ room.

Woah.

Brain stamp.

The room was plain white and the walls had remained untouched. No posters of famous bands or of any movies. Just another piece of the puzzle that is Sarah Walker. The other being that she actually doesn't mind hanging out with a nerd like him. The rest of the room was almost as blank as the walls. It was as if Sarah Walker was a blank slate. Under the window rested a small desk on top of which sat a laptop. The bed was tucked into a corner of the room, away from the door.

"So, yeah, this is my room and- oh crap. Great host that I am I forgot to ask. Would you like anything to drink?" Much to Chuck's amusement, Sarah performed a perfect face-palm.

She returned a few minutes after rushing out of her room with the glass of water he'd asked for and a can of soda for herself.

After two hours of searching, typing and printing, their project was ready to be handed in and Chuck's stomach was growling not-so-silently. He blushed under Sarah's mirth-filled look.

"I'm guessing you're hungry." She said, sly grin in place.

"Now what would give you that idea?" He asked, his face a picture of fake curiosity. Which was replaced with shock when a pillow came out of nowhere and decided his nose was a perfect landing spot.

Lowering the pillow, his face suddenly serious, he said in a solemn tone, "You have no idea what you're asking for." The light in his eye was the only indication that he was joking. As well as the shit-eating grin that formed.

Sarah leaned forward, until she was nose to nose with Chuck. "Pray tell, Mr Bartowski, what am I asking for?" She bit her lip to prevent laughing as Chuck's smug grin faded and started bumbling. After watching him stammer his way around the English language, killing Darwin's theory that humans had evolved, she grabbed the second pillow lying on her bed and proceeded to use it in the only way possible. To beat the crap out of someone.

* * *

Alex and Carol Miller were surprised, to say the least, to hear shrieks of laughter coming from upstairs. After investigating they found the two culprits in Sarah's bedroom. Chuck was currently lying on the floor in the foetal position, with Sarah leaning over him. Goose feathers lay scattered over the carpet, their empty covers somewhere in the mess.

When the door opened both Chuck and Sarah stopped and looked over at the visitors. Sarah immediately stopped tickling Chuck and stood up, a red tinge making its way up from her neck. Chuck however remained on the floor, mouth hanging open. Shock melted them in place. Realising that he looked like a fool, Chuck's mouth snapped shut and he gave Sarah's parents a sheepish look.

After a few seconds of shooting the 'Disapproval Parental Glare' at the two teenagers, both husband and wife could no longer hold it in.

Chuck and Sarah watched in startled confusion as Alex and Carol bent over, shoulders shaking in laughter.

"You guys are too cute!" Carol gasped as she tried to catch her breath. If it was possible, Chuck turned redder and he and Sarah purposely avoided looking at each other. "Oh, and dinner's ready. Chuck, you're welcome to stay for dinner. In fact, consider it an order, not a request." Carol raised her hands up, palms forward, to ward off any excuses. "Uh-uh-uh. You're staying and eating, unless you have plans?"

Chuck shook his head, "No."

"Well, now that that's settled, food will be on the table in five minutes and I expect this mess to be cleared up by then." After hearing the teenagers mumbled agreements Carol turned and followed her husband back downstairs, shaking her head in disbelief at the scene they had interrupted.

As she began to herd the goose feathers into a pile in the middle of her room, Sarah refused to look at Chuck. She couldn't believe what had happened. They were working, like two normal friends and then... BAM! She suddenly decided it would be a good idea to start a pillow fight. _'Seriously,'_ she asked herself silently, _'a pillow fight? What are you eight?'_

She didn't know how but she ended up leaning over Chuck, her fingers had a mind of their own as they ventured across his stomach. Apparently Chuck was very ticklish...and he kept fit. She fought to keep from blushing again as she remembered the position they were in when her parents found them. As much as she tried she could still feel her cheeks burn.

Once he'd finished his side of the room, Chuck cleared his throat; he didn't dare use his voice until he was sure he wouldn't stutter, squeak or that his voice wouldn't break halfway through his sentence. When she looked over Chuck gave her a nervous smile, happy when she returned it with one at least as nervous as his own, if not more. They were the last to arrive at the dinner table, and it was obvious from first glance that Alex and Carol had told the other two occupants of the dinner table what had transpired less than five minutes previously. It was obvious because Carina would keep smiling at Chuck and Sarah in a way that said 'I knew it' and Casey looked slightly green and kept glaring at the two of them, mostly Chuck.

The table was laden with a roast of lamb sitting in the comfort of boiled potatoes and vegetables. Next to the heavenly sight lay a bowl of salad. Chuck sat opposite Sarah, next to Casey, who sat opposite his girlfriend. Alex and Carol took their place at the head of the table. Overall it was a warm atmosphere.

They started eating in silence but after a few minutes the silence became overbearing and Carol decided to learn more about their neighbour.

"So, Chuck," she began, "Sarah told me that you're a Nerd Herder." She noticed Sarah blushing out of the corner of her eye, embarrassed at being caught talking about him.

"Yes, yes I am." Chuck answered, suddenly nervous at being the centre of attention.

"You must be the youngest there; I mean you're only sixteen. How did you land the job, no offence or anything."

"None taken. To be honest I actually went in to be a salesman but I came out with a badge and pocket protector so I just went with it. I've been working with computers since I was quite young and it just comes naturally."

"Do you enjoy working there?"

"Yeah it's actually quite fun, and it's hilarious to see what customers have done to their possessions. Usually though, you have men coming in complaining that their computer is not working fast enough and it keeps stalling. They all have the same problem. They've downloaded a load of porn. When we tell them that they'll need to remove some, they look so heartbroken. It actually takes a while to convince them that the porn is causing a problem. They refuse to believe it. The last guy, about three days ago, he just left to get a 'second opinion'."

The whole table was in tears, well, except for Casey, but he did give a grunt and Chuck mentally listed it as 'Grunt 3: Open Disgust.' Chuck was building a small repertoire of Casey's grunts. It was growing everyday and Chuck was slightly proud of it.

"Does that mean you're going to work with computers in the future?" Alex asked, interested.

"I guess. I've been thinking about going into Computer Engineering. My dad was a computer engineer and he taught me all I know."

"I'm sorry for your loss." Carina jumped in.

"Excuse me?" Chuck asked, confused at the sentiment.

"You said your dad _was_ a computer engineer and you seemed kinda reluctant to talk about him so I just assumed that he'd... passed on."

"Oh, no. He hasn't passed on, at least, I don't think so." At their confused looks he went onto explain. "We haven't heard from my dad in close to five months now. So for all I know, he could still be an engineer, he could be... dead or he could be working for the CIA." Chuck gave a low chuckle at the absurdity of his father being an American James Bond, trying forget the possibility of his father passing away without him or Ellie knowing.

"When you say we, do you mean you and your mom?" Alex asked, calmly, although he was burning with rage on the inside. What kind of man left his family without telling them anything? How could he put them through this?

"No, I mean me and my sister." Chuck answered. He could feel the rage that he buried ten years before, beginning to fester and grow. He held his cutlery tighter in his hands so that they would stop shaking so much. When he looked up it seemed no one had noticed his inner turmoil. _'Thank God.'_

"You have a sister? Older or younger?"

"Yes, Ellie. She's three years older than me and is currently in UCLA studying medicine. She's gonna be a great doctor someday, that's for sure." A deaf man could notice the pride in Chuck's voice. It was clear to see they were close.

"So, who do you live with? I mean, your dad's gone, your sister's in college and yet there seems to be no one else living in your apartment." Sarah glared at Carina. _'How could she be so insensitive and blunt?'_

Chuck visibly flinched, everyone noticed.

He could feel the rage oozing out of the hold he'd placed it in after his mother had left them. With it came irrefutable sadness. After their dad left for 'pancakes', the rage and grief had exploded out of him in one large messy ball. It had been so bad that for a couple months he'd had to go to see a therapist. He stopped going after two months because he and Ellie had to plan for the future, without any parents. Any lasting grief had been put rest the more time he spent with Ellie, so he convinced her that she needn't look for a therapist in Burbank for him.

He was okay talking about his father, not happy, but he was okay. After all, even though he had been gone for five months, he could still come back and he had, at least, left them with some money. Well not _some_ money, try quite a bit. And by that he meant enough to get Ellie through college and to buy the small apartment. It didn't mean that they hated him any less, God no. He'd left them. Period.

But their mother had just gone, with nothing, leaving a heart broken shell of a man and two confused children who were left to pick up the pieces. He was angry because Ellie had had to grow up too fast and become a mother and sister. She had to balance the family bank account, help Chuck with his homework, feed them... and so much more, all while trying to pass her exams and apply for colleges. No child should have to go through the stress of that, definitely not Ellie.

For that reason, Chuck hated someone for the first time in his life.

He'd been right when he told his sister that he didn't need a therapist, he had been doing fine. Until now. He managed to keep the memories at bay, but there was no question that they would be visiting him in his dream that night. He came out of his thoughts and answered Carina's question with the least amount of information possible. He didn't want to break down in front of his neighbours, and his best friends. _That_ would be embarrassing.

"She left us ten years ago and we haven't seen or heard from her since." He gave a tight smile, which was more of a grimace, and a small shrug before returning to his food, but he was no longer hungry.

The rest of the table noticed the clear warnings and decided not to broach the topic. Carina felt a twinge, well, more than a _twinge_, of guilt. It was obvious that Chuck didn't want to approach the subject of his parents. He seemed a bit off after he talked about his father and she had just opened the can of worms by asking about his mom. She wasn't one to worry how her words will affect others, so this was definitely a first. Chuck just looked so innocent and vulnerable; no wonder Sarah had taken a liking to him.

Shaking all thoughts and feelings of guilt out of her mind she carried on with previous actions, she raised her leg and lowered it and Casey jerked his head up at her, wide eyed. He relaxed soon enough.

Dinner became slightly awkward after this and the shroud of silence returned.

Chuck decided to break the silence. "So, Mrs Miller, Sarah tells me you're a Lawyer."

"Yes, I'm a Criminal Prosecutor. I'm the one who puts the bad guys in jail, basically And, please, call me Carol."

Carina butted in, "Mom's actually up for DA, aren't you?"

"I'm one of the many, many people they're looking at, yes."

"Well, good luck. I'm sure you won't need it though." Chuck said with a smile.

Talk flowed throughout the delicious dinner, no hint of the earlier awkwardness remained. Chuck found out that Casey had already enrolled in the US Marine Corps for after he finished high school. No surprises considering the stories he heard about Casey around school. Sarah wasn't sure what she was going to do but she was leaning towards a Business degree.

At the end of dinner, Chuck said goodbye and made his way home, a large smile adorned his face. He hadn't been this happy since the last time he saw Ellie. Sure talking to her on the phone was great, hearing her tell him about how great a time she was having, all the new friends she'd made and how much she missed him, but sometimes it wasn't enough.

Sure enough, as soon as he entered the phone began to ring and he rushed to pick it up. "Hey, El..."

After the long chat catching up with Ellie, Chuck finished the last of his weekend homework– which took forever considering his mind kept drifting to the pillow fight earlier that day- and proceeded to crash on his small bed, hoping that his weariness would keep the nightmares at bay.

Wishful thinking.

* * *

_Grief: intense sorrow caused by loss of a loved one (especially by death)._

_Except that Ellie's tears weren't caused by the death of a loved one, the pain in his own heart- pain that he knew resided in both his sister's and father's hearts too- was not caused by the permanent loss of their mother. Because her loss was not permanent, she could come back, she could come back with arms open wide and tears in her eyes, apologising for even thinking of leaving her family, her world. But she chose not to. She chose to make her loss permanent and in their hearts she made it her death._

_The night after she first left Chuck couldn't fall asleep; his therapist later labelled it a symptom of grief. Chuck blamed it on the fact that his room was adjoining his sister's and she wasn't asleep, she was crying, heart- jerking, gut-twisting sobs. It broke his heart._

_That night he sat in front of the door, waiting for it to open- no, _willing_ it to open. No such thing happened that night. It didn't happen the night after, or the night after that. It kept not happening until Chuck realised that it would never happen. But even then, the world kept turning, the sun kept rising and homework kept coming._

_But not everything was the same. His dad stopped tucking him in at night. He stopped coming out to eat his dinner. He stopped coming out._

_From then on it was just him and Ellie. The Bartowski siblings against the world. But it wasn't like any of his comic books, it was reality._

* * *

Chuck awoke on Monday morning, his dream still fresh on his mind, pain still heavy in his heart. It didn't help that it was a Monday and Chuck shared Bob Geldof's sentiment.

But it was all forgotten as soon as he walked out of the door, bag heavy on his back but a smile on his face.

It was a good day. He gave all his work in on time, and didn't have that much homework in return. Lunch was awkward as usual, there was Alice on one side and Sarah on the other. Oh, and Carina kept smiling in a slightly sinister way. But he added a couple more Casey Grunts to his little 'English-to-Grunt' dictionary.

There were no bullies awaiting his exit and his walk home was enjoyable. Banter flowed between him and Sarah as if they had been friends for years and he got her into watching Firefly with him next weekend. He would turn her into a Browncoat, just you wait, she'd be cursing at FOX as soon as the first episode finished.

His thoughts about converting Sarah into a Browncoat were put on hold when Carina voiced a question to no one in particular.

"Can you smell that?" Her nose was comically crinkled as she sniffed every now and then.

Chuck started to reply "No" when his body reacted to a stimulus that would make that a blatant lie. He smelt... "Smoke?"

"Yeah, now that you mention..." Sarah trailed off as they turned the corner onto their block and Chuck's world fell apart. Well maybe that was an exaggeration. His world wasn't falling apart but his home sure was.

"No," He shook his head, "no, no, no."

Dodging Casey's outstretched arm Chuck ran towards his burning apartment.

"Chuck, stop!" But Chuck didn't hear, or he ignored Sarah's warning.

The three kept calling out to Chuck as they chased him down the street, ignoring the crowd that was drawn to their shouts or the sight and smell of the fire.

They reached Chuck's apartment too late, he had already, somehow, entered the building.

Many people in the crowd had phones to their ears, smart enough to call the emergency services. Others had phones held in front of them, cameras filming everything.

Sarah wanted to break their phones in half. Chuck's home was burning, with him _inside_, and all they could think to do was to film it?

She felt arms wrap around her, holding her close. It was Carol. She must have had the afternoon off to have arrived home so early. Sarah turned in her arms, not wanting to watch the disaster unfolding before her very eyes.

Carol felt, rather than heard, Sarah cry. Her shoulders were shaking violently and her arms were wound so tight around her, it was a miracle she was still breathing. _'God, after everything she's been through, Sarah does not need this.'_ She was getting better, opening up more. She had actually called her 'Mom' yesterday, although she had fallen silent after. _'None of us need this.'_

'_Moron. Idiot. _He needed more insults. And the Moron needed a brain. Geez, how can someone who was supposedly a genius of some sorts be such an idiot. _'Twerp.'_ That was a new one. He wasn't... one of those characters from his stupid comic books who thought wearing their under garments on top of their clothes was a good fashion choice. Casey was not worried, he was simply stating facts. Important facts that_ some_ people clearly could not understand.

Worry.

Fear.

Confusion.

Sympathy.

Empathy.

Carina was a woman of action. She hated standing idly by while things happened around her, it was dull. She had to be in the centre of the action. Good or bad. But here she was standing by, and she wasn't the only one. Nothing could be done until the firemen (she preferred firefighters- not as sexist) came and did their job. But she wasn't doing nothing, she was feeling. She was feeling a lot and it confused her. There were emotions warring within her and she didn't know what to do about them. So, for the first time, Carina did nothing. She let the feelings wash over her as she embraced Casey and he wrapped her arms around her, somewhat stiffly. He never was the type to be 'one with his emotions.' Not like Chuck was.

Suddenly all her emotions pooled into one.

Grief.

The firefighters arrived and started preparing their equipment.

The fire had grown since they first set eyes upon it.

Sarah had turned to watch the firefighters when she was momentarily blinded by a flash of light. Turning, she saw fragments of glass shimmering in the afternoon sun.

One emotion burst past the sadness, the grief she felt.

Hope.

* * *

**Thank you for giving this a read and we hope you enjoyed. Please leave us a review to let us know what you think. Good, bad. Until next time.**

**D-no**

**TeamBartowski.**


	11. Chapter 10

**Hey all,**

**It has been a while and while me and Erica are both very sorry for making you wait, this wait couldn't be helped. Starting off at college is Hell, but we're through the confusion (kinda- tbh I'm always confused) and this chapter has been completed (obviously). We didn't waste our time though, we have been talking about where this fic is going and we managed to plan a crossover in thrity minutes. Not bad, huh? And no, that doesn't mean that the plot is terrible (hopefully) it just means we no longer have any friends. :D**

**Anywho, we would like to thank everyone who reviewed and has put us on story alert and what not. So thank you. It helps immensly to know how our writing is perceived, so please keep reviewing!**

**Disclaimer: No, we don't own Chuck. I may or may not have spent many nights awake in tears because of this very real fact. I did however get Chuck Season 2 on DVD for my birthday- I'm getting closer- as well as driving lessons, so all those on the roads in South Wales... beware... *evil laugh***

**Please enjoy, that's why we write (another reason: so that our heads don't explode from the plot bunnies that just keep forming).  
**

* * *

It was hot. No, that wasn't right. It was blistering hot. Smoke surrounded him, clouding his vision and making his eyes water.

Maybe this wasn't the best idea.

'_No kidding.'_ Sarah was gonna kill him. Then Ellie was gonna bring him back to life to kill him, followed by a very _very _long lecture.

He just wasn't thinking. Everything he owned was in the burning building. All he had left of his parents. As much as he hated them for what they did, he couldn't just let their things burn. The things that would remind him that there was a time when they cared about him and Ellie. He couldn't let that go. It would be like losing them again.

Chuck thought that after living in the apartment for a few weeks that he would be able to manoeuvre his way through the smoke.

_THUNK. _

Or not. Chuck found himself on the floor. He didn't know what he tripped on but he was thankful for it because now he was in the hallway that led to the two bedrooms and the bathroom. The smoke must have originated on the other side of the apartment 'cause there was little or no smoke near the bedrooms. Sending a quick thank you to the man upstairs, Chuck got back onto his feet and made his way to his bedroom.

Even though the fire hadn't spread to the bedrooms, the door handles seared his hands when he barged roughly into his room. He ignored the pain and hurried to the pile of half un-packed boxes in the corner of his room.

'_Where is it? Where is it?'_ Boxes were strewn haphazardly on the floor of his room as Chuck hunted through them. Smoke slowly spread through the cracks under the door that he had closed not a minute before. The air had become stifling. It was getting hard to breathe.

There!

He could see the marine blue material poking out one of the upturned boxes. Smoke now filled the room. _'How could the fire be spreading so fast?' _ He'd been in the apartment for less than five minutes. Less than five minutes too long, he could hear Ellie's voice in his head. The smoke was spreading through the room and Chuck started coughing. It was getting darker and harder to see but Chuck felt the course material brush against his hand. Grabbing onto it, Chuck pulled and dragged it out from the box. _'Oh, shit.'_ Where would he escape? The door was obviously out of the question. The smoke was choking him and it was getting harder to think. Tears were streaking down his face. Chuck started wheezing as he futilely tried to suck in oxygen. Blackness surrounded his vision. Slowly sucking him down.

_SMASH!_

A loud sound dragged him from the brink of unconsciousness. It sounded like glass breaking. Glass? The window!

'_Note to self: Go to Church; get down on your knees and thank God.'_

Moving towards where he thought the window was, Chuck crawled head first into a large, yet slightly soft object. His bed! If that was his bed then... crawling sideways, he reached his hand out and touched wood. His desk! Hope was enough to push away the last vestiges of unconsciousness that had lingered. Bracing himself against the desk, Chuck pulled himself up. Only to fall to the floor when he started coughing again. Even with the window open, the smoke was still thick and Chuck was breathing a higher percentage of smoke than he was oxygen. What if he couldn't get out? He was so close he could see light through the smoke through his watering eyes.

Taking a deep breath, Chuck told himself to calm down. It worked and soon his heart stopped beating so fast in his chest.

Now to get out.

_Breath in._

_Breath out._

_Breath in._

_Breath out._

Repeating the mantra in his mind, Chuck gripped the desk again, but this time with one hand open and one clenching the bag. This time when he pulled himself up, he leant on top of the desk so that he wouldn't slide down.

The air was getting thinner, the little oxygen that there was burned his raw throat. Reaching out his hand, Chuck grabbed on to the windowsill. Chuck rose onto his knees on the desk. Using a mixture of push and pull, Chuck found himself lying on something hard and the bag was no longer in his hand. Concrete!

The fresh air burned as he gulped it in. The light was too much for his watering eyes to handle so he closed them. He could hear voices. So many voices. Sirens. The voices got louder and louder, closer and closer.

Someone was yelling his name but he couldn't find the energy to answer. The adrenaline rush that had rushed around his body when he moved to make his escape out of the window left him as quickly as it filled him. Then...

Pain. There was so much pain. His hands were on fire! And his throat! Oh, God his throat! He squirmed on the hard ground trying to quell the burning he felt. Cool hands held him still and something was gently place on his face. It made his already aflame throat burn more. Chuck fought against the hands. They did things that hurt him. He wanted, no, he _needed_ the pain to stop.

He heard a voice, a soft melodic voice. An angel. Nothing could have such a beautiful, soothing voice. Through the fog, Chuck couldn't understand what the angel was saying to him.

'_Be quiet!'_ He wanted to tell the other, courser voices. _'The Angel is saying something. I need to hear the Angel.'_

Opening his eyes he saw blurs of dark blue and white moving around him. But through the wave of yellow he saw her. The Angel. Her hair was billowing around her and her clear blue eyes were filled with concern. She was crying. Why was the Angel crying? Had something bad happened? He wanted to wipe away her tears but his arm was too heavy and he couldn't lift it.

Then she was gone. Just like that. He looked everywhere but he couldn't find her. He tried to call to her but no sound came out. His eyelids were getting heavier and everything was darkening around him. The Angel had gone and so he let go and fell into the shadows.

* * *

Sarah moved away from Carol, towards the broken window. In her head she kept thinking: _'Please be okay.'_ When nothing else happened the hope that had built up at the sight of the broken window began to dwindle. This couldn't be happening. Chuck couldn't leave her, he just couldn't. He was different. Her mom had left, then her dad. Now Chuck.

'_No! He hasn't gone yet.'_ The small part of her brain argued. It was the part she wanted to believe the most. She'd learned from experience that nothing ever lasted. After the first two new schools she'd enrolled in after her mom left and her dad started moving them around the country she discovered that it would be easier not to make friends because she'd had to leave them in the end.

But when she moved in with the Millers, things had changed. She'd changed. She'd gotten into a routine; she'd let them in. She was happy for the first time in a long, long while. Chuck had helped; he'd shown her that not everyone wanted something from her. The complete opposite of everything her father had taught her when she was younger. She'd even started calling Carol and Alex, Mom and Dad. It had taken a while, but she had gotten there. She had come home one day from a good day at school (a lot of classes with Chuck) and it just rolled off her tongue. It felt natural. She'd spent more time with them doing family things, watching movies on Saturday nights, she'd even played a board game. I know right? Sarah Walker playing a freaking board game.

And now someone else was going to leave her. But it was more than that._ Chuck_ was going to leave her. Her best friend. The most adorable and yet sexy boy in the world. The first person she may have more than just 'friend-like' feelings for.

Wiping at her eyes, she watched as the firemen fought a raging battle against the fire, only to have something catch her eye.

_Chuck!_ Suddenly she was running towards him, she could hear Carol calling to the firefighters. Sarah skidded on to her knees next to Chuck and became worried when she found him moving erratically. His reddened hands were clawing at his throat. Gently, she took his flailing hands into her own and brought them away from his throat. Before she could say anything she was pushed aside to watch the paramedics as they worked on Chuck. Her foot bumped against something and she looked down to find a blue backpack lying on the ground next to Chuck and picked it up. It must have been important to Chuck for him to run into a burning building to get it. _'Or he was just that dumb. When you get better Chuck I'm gonna kill you for making me - us go through all that. Geez, how could you be so idiotic, Chuck?' _

Chuck freaking out again brought Sarah out of her thoughts. The paramedics had put the oxygen mask on Chuck and he clearly didn't want it on.

Sarah tried to calm him over the medical jargon of the paramedics. "Chuck, you need to calm down. You're gonna be okay."

His eyes opened and after a second or two his beautiful brown eyes stared straight into hers and Sarah couldn't stop the flow of tears that made their way down her face. Happy tears. Chuck had stopped fighting the paramedics and she continued to talk to him, to reassure him. "Everything's gonna be fine, Chuck." Before she could say more the paramedics moved her away so that they get the gurney through to Chuck. Within a matter of seconds, Chuck was in the ambulance that was carving its way to the hospital.

* * *

When they arrived, soon after Chuck had, Alex's position wasn't enough to find out how Chuck was. It merely warranted a 'He's okay.' But nothing more. It was policy that they could only give news out to family members.

"Oh, God. Ellie!" Sarah said in alarm. "We need to call her. Tell her that Chuck's in hospital."

"How? We don't even have her number." Carina asked the pertinent question.

The nurse had been listening in on their conversation, having no other job at the moment in time, answered them, "Charles' sister was called as soon as he arrived. I talked to her myself and she assured me that she would be here as soon as possible." With a smile the nurse directed the worried group to the waiting room.

* * *

He wasn't on the ground anymore. That's the first thing he noticed. It was soft, but not as soft as his bed. It was the smell of antiseptic clued him into the fact that he was in a hospital.

'_Why am I in a hospital? What happened?'_ Chuck started to freak out. Opening his eyes, he quickly closed them against the harsh lighting of the room. After a quick succession of blinks, Chuck was able to look around. He was in a large ward, he could tell by the fact that the only thing separating him from the large discord of sound was a thin, light blue curtain.

Raising his hands to wipe his bleary eyes, Chuck was shocked to find his hand swathed in bandages. _'Oh God,_' he groaned silently as he remembered the events that landed him in his current predicament. He was glad to find that his fingers weren't wrapped up. This meant that he wouldn't have to take days off from school or work. Thank God. He didn't need to add catching up and extra hours to his workload.

Whatever they gave him for the pain, something he was _very_ grateful for, was wearing off and the ache from his burns became more and more prominent. Luckily a doctor entered his small cubicle. The doctor introduced himself as Doctor Malcolm Cobb. He'd promptly laughed at the look on Chuck's face, stating that he was lucky his parents did want their only son to reach the age of twenty and decided that being called Jayne certainly wouldn't help his case. After sharing a laugh, the doctor's smile transformed into a serious frown.

"Mr Bartowski-"

"Call me Chuck, Doc." Chuck interrupted with a small smile.

Doctor Cobb smiled but it was tight and it didn't reach his eyes. "Alright, Chuck, when we were tending to you we noticed evidence of beatings... several beatings," Malcolm Cobb stopped a frown from blossoming on his face as he watched the lively young lad before him close himself off. "I need you to trust me and to be honest with me, Chuck. Are either of your parents responsible for the... bruises?" He stared right into Chuck's eyes and it made Chuck slightly uncomfortable but he knew that he had to stop that accusation in its tracks before anyone tried to delve into his and Ellie's lives.

Looking straight into the Doctor's eyes with as much sincerity as possible, he replied, "no. I'm just a clumsy child." He gave an awkward chuckle, still under the doctor's scrutiny. "I swear. Okay, maybe a few run-ins with bullies and stuff but that's all been dealt with. Honestly."

The Doctor broke off eye contact, the young lad's testimony was very heartfelt, but he had to face the facts, the kid was a bad liar. Good attribute to have. "Okay, Chuck. I'll leave it alone, but only if you're sure. If there's any problem, promise me you'll tell someone."

With the brightest smile he could muster Chuck promised the friendly doctor that he would certainly do so.

"Okay, to the diagnosis. You are one lucky gorram kid, Chuck. Aside from smoke inhalation you have first degree burns on your hands. The smoke inhalation was treated on your way to the hospital. Now to your burns: your hands are gonna be sore for a little while. They may swell and you're gonna have to apply some Aloe Vera on them for the next few days and if you feel any pain, over the counter pain meds are perfectly fine. You'll have to change the wrapping every day until the burns heal which should take no more than a week." Doctor Cobb shut the clipboard with Chuck's information with a snap as he moved towards the thin curtain.

"When can I leave?" Chuck asked before the doctor left.

"As soon as your sister comes we can sign you out." And with that and a large grin the doctor left Chuck to himself.

Ellie was coming. A large part of Chuck's brain was cheering at the chance to see his sister, even if they had only been separated for less than a month.

Roughly, two percent of his brain started panicking. Ellie was gonna kill him. And he couldn't blame her. He'd been an idiot. Running into a fire to save a few keepsakes - rather important keepsakes, sure- but nothing warranting the idiocy of his previous act. And he had drawn Ellie out of studying. Ellie had worked so hard studying to get into UCLA. She almost didn't go because of their father's vanishing act and now, because of his pure foolishness she had to give up very important studying time to come all the way to Burbank and pick him up from the hospital.

Zero point zero zero zero one percent of him rejoiced at the fact that she wasn't driving all the way to Burbank to collect him from the police station. It was a small plus, but he'd take anything he could.

Pushing the thin sheet off of him, Chuck realised that he was wearing a hospital gown. He knew he shouldn't be surprised, the Doctor had asked him about the bruises and they were mainly concentrated on his torso, but the feeling that someone had stripped him of his shirt – he was thankful that his trousers were still on under the gown – while he was unconscious. That was slightly weird and Chuck felt his face turning red. Jerking the material off him, he pushed those thoughts aside and found his shirt on the back of the plastic chair by his bed and quickly put it on to ward away cold.

Suddenly the curtain was ripped open behind him and he turned just in time to see a blur of brown before he was roughly taken into an embrace. Realizing it was none other than his sister, Chuck's arms came to life and rose from their useless spots at his sides and wrapped themselves around his her. Abruptly she pushed herself from his embrace and punched him- _hard- _on his shoulder.

"Oww, dammit Ellie! I swear you don't know your own strength." Looking more closely at his sister he asked, "have you- have you been crying?"

"Why do you sound so surprised? I get a call saying that there's been a fire and that you had been admitted. What did you expect me to think?" Ellie wiped at her red-rimmed eyes and glared at Chuck. "Seriously, Chuck. What the Hell? Running into a burning building? I just can't seem to wrap my head around the fact that my responsible little brother- who convinced me that it would be fine for him to stay by himself with me only an hour away- to do something so… so dim-witted. Why, Chuck? Just please explain to me why the _Hell_ you thought it would be a good idea? Coz I'm seriously drawing up a blank."

Chuck's head had slowly dropped throughout Ellie's – well-deserved – reaming. "Look, I don't really know what I was thinking. I- I guess I wasn't really thinking." Chuck looked into Ellie's eyes, watching them soften. "It's just, I couldn't just stand and watch while everything we own burnt to a crisp. We had photo's and just things that - "Chuck stopped himself.

"Things that what, Chuck?" Her voice was softer, gentler, now.

"I just couldn't stand back and watch as everything that showed that w– we were once a – a family burnt away. Everything that proved that on- once, there was a time when…" Chuck's throat was blocked and he looked at the ceiling, willing his eyes to dry. He couldn't say anymore but Ellie knew.

"Everything that proved that they once loved us." Chuck nodded. "Oh, Chuck." Ellie wrapped him in her embrace once more, blinking away her tears as she felt Chuck's soak through her shirt. Pushing away from him, gently this time, Ellie grasped his shoulders and made sure he was looking directly into her eyes. "We don't need any evidence to know they loved us, once upon a time." Chuck mumbled something incoherent and Ellie asked him to repeat himself, feeling her heart break once more when he did.

"It wasn't enough for them to stay. We weren't enough."

Ellie grabbed his chin and forced him to look at her. "That's not true. You know that Chuck. I don't know why they left us, I can't even begin to fathom why, but they did. And it wasn't anything you or I did, okay? You need to understand that, Chuck. It wasn't your fault. It happened, they left but we still have each other and that's _all_ we need, okay?"

"Okay." Chuck repeated, a small smile growing on his face, only to be marred with a confused frown. "Ellie, what are we gonna do about the apartment? Where am I gonna stay?"

"Before I came in here I met a few friends you made. They offered for you to stay at their place and they made a very convincing argument."

"Friends? What frie-" Chuck's unfinished question was answered when he walked into the waiting room. "Oh, those frien-oof!" This time Chuck was unable to finish speaking because someone crushed him into a bear hug, overwhelming his bruised ribs, only to pull away and hit him. The exact same place as Ellie had done previously. "Dear God! What the Hell is up with you women today?" He cried out as he checked his shoulder for any sign of bruising - he already had enough of those.

"What's up with us? You're the idiot that ran into a _burning building_!" Sarah was pissed beyond all reckoning.

"I'm sorry," Chuck was once again wrapped in Sarah's embrace and her scent of… vanilla? Whatever it was it smelt nice, very nice. Chuck blushed as he caught his thoughts wandering into uncharted territory. Drawing himself out of the embrace he could have sworn that Sarah's cheeks were tinged slightly with pink. It was probably because of the temperature in the waiting room, which was unbearably high all of a sudden.

Once he knew that any sign of his blushing was gone, Chuck looked up to the rest of the crowd. The whole Miller family was there as well as Casey.

"Hey, Chuck. All patched up?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, just a couple of small burns. Should be gone in a week or so. So umm…" Chuck looked uncertainly between Ellie and the Miller's silently asking if they had really offered him a place to stay.

Carol caught on quickly, smiling brightly, "Me and Alex talked to your sister and we offered for you to stay with us, indefinitely. Before you say anything we'd just like to stop any of your arguments in their tracks. It's close to school, Ellie can rest assured that you're being looked after and there's no need for you to waste time and money looking for another place. You can stay as long as you want. It's no problem."

Chuck looked at Ellie, who was giving him and 'I-told-you-so' smile that only older sisters could perfect. "I can see what you mean about a convincing argument."

And that was how Chuck ended up living under the same roof as Sarah Walker. Oh, man. Things were gonna get interesting.

* * *

**Oh! Oh! Just realised another reason why we write, so you can make us feel happy by clicking that little (but important) button just down there and inflating our heads, or deflating them. We don't mind (lie), praise or constructive criticism (another lie). Just kidding. Please let us know what you think, compliments and constructive criticism is (honestly this time) welcome.  
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**D-no**

**TeamBartowski.  
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	12. Chapter 11

**Why hello fellow human beings! How art thou?**

**Compared to our more recent updates, this must seem rather fast. The speed of this update has to be blamed on the fact that we just had a week off college and the awesome episodes that we're given every week. Updates in the future may be a bit off, I'm considering entering NaNoWriMo (I have only one day left to sign up- better make up my mind soon, no?) So, if I do, there'll probably be no updates for the next month. If not, then hopefully there should be another update sometime soon cause this chapter was meant to be longer but then we didn't want to make you guys wait, and the chapter was the longest we'd written without the second half so we ended it in an appropriate place.**

**Funny (true) story: Erica convinced her Mum to watch Chuck and, like the rest of us, she instantly fell in love with it. Just over a week ago, Erica received a text in the middle of a lecture from her Mum who was in PC World at the time. It said: 'OMG IT'S JUST LIKE THE BUY MORE. LOL' Erica's Dad was thoroughly confused with her behaviour in the middle of the electronics store (He doesn't watch Chuck). How's that for epicness. When Erica showed me the text, my day suddenly seemed brighter and I couldn't stop laughing for a good ten minutes.**

**Anywho, thank you to everyone who read, reviewed or put the story or us on alert. It means so much that you guys enjoy the story and it gives us more incentive to write and update faster. Seriously, even if we didn't have this week off, the chapter would have been updated rather quickly cause of the awesome reception the last chapter (and the whole fic in general) has gotten, it blows me away. So, thank you.**

**Disclaimer: We don't own Chuck.  
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**We hope you enjoy the chapter and Happy Halloween everyone.**

**D-no**

**TeamBartowski.**

* * *

"Oh, my God." Ellie gasped, her petite hand covering her mouth in shock. Chuck shared her sentiments as they looked on at their home, or what was left of it. Which really wasn't a lot. The four outer walls were standing… and that was about it. Inside it was just a wide-open space. You could easily see where the rooms were split up. Or in Chuck's case, trip over what was left of the burnt walls that dissected the small apartment.

"Yeah, I know."

"And you just had to go running right in!"

"Oh, we're back to that. Umm, sorry?" Chuck said weakly.

"I know, Chuck. I know you are. It's just seeing this. It just reminds me that you could've never gotten out. I just… We're all we have Chuck and I can't lose you, okay? So, no more idiotic stunts. Deal?"

"Deal." Chuck said and wrapped his arms around his sister. "Deal." He said quietly and resolutely to himself.

They didn't spend that long in the living room, they didn't have a lot there that they had lost in the fire, except a few photos, a few memories that they had forgotten long ago. They then moved into Chuck's room, the only furnished bedroom in the small apartment.

Chuck let out an audible moan when he saw all the boxes that he had planned to unpack (under Ellie's strict orders) that weekend, lay in a blackened pile in the corner of his room. And his computer, at the back of this chaos lay his beloved computer. The grey corners of the bulky monitor were blackened and even from the other side of the room, Chuck could make out the cracks that laced the fragile screen and he fought the urge to groan loudly. He had made that computer, with his own six-year-old hands... and a lot of help from his father (he was six!). His father had even downloaded Windows 2000 for him, a gift for doing so well. He and his father had spent what amounted to forever in his younger self's mind working on the computer. They'd been so concentrated on building it that his father missed several X-Files episodes. And, even more surprisingly, so had Chuck. Chuck sifted through the boxes. Most of the things were burnt beyond recognition but there were a few things that he and Ellie could just about make out. The few albums stored in the boxes were useless; the fire had gotten to them easily. There were a few of Chuck's toys and Ellie's dolls that weren't destroyed by the fire.

"Hey," Chuck said happily as he lifted two toys out of one of the boxes, "Optimus Prime and Megatron. Man these were epic." Ellie rolled her eyes lovingly as Chuck knelt on the ground and started playing with the two toys, the colours had faded over the years and the plastic was slightly puckered from the heat of the fire. Not caring about the state of his toys, he made them attack each other and speaking in low grunts as he imitated, poorly, the voices of the robots.

Ellie let out a small gasp at the sight of her old "doctors kit". When she was seven Ellie had decided that she wanted to be a doctor. It was an out of the blue decision made soon after she had patched up her little brother when he had taken a small fall in the garden. She knew then that it took more than applying spider man plaster and planting a kiss on the boo-boo but the satisfaction that came from helping someone, especially her baby brother, was like nothing else. That Christmas, their parents had surprised her with a toy doctor's kit. Ellie spent the whole day dressed in the 'doctors coat' and, using Chuck as the patient, saved several imaginary people. Some patients, though, were beyond saving, as the young Ellie had consoled the parents of "Toby" (who had died of a bump on the head). Chuck wasn't the best patient. Not surprising considering that he was four and Ellie had made him lie still for several hours, until their parents told them it was time to eat.

Chuck's voice pulled Ellie out of her memory, "El, are you okay?" He asked worriedly. "I called your name, like five times and you didn't answer."

"Yeah," she smiled softly, Chuck's concern melted quickly. "Just remembering."

"Oh, my God. I remember this! I didn't even get to play with my own presents cause you needed a patient. That was a great Christmas."

"It was? I thought you hated me after I made you lie still for like two hours."

"Hate you? God, no. El, you were so happy. I know I was four but you were my big sister. I would have been fine if you made me stay there for hours on end if it made you happy." Ellie smiled gently and hugged Chuck. "There's also the fact that you were bigger than me then and I knew that bodily harm wasn't out of the question. Probably would've made the whole thing more authentic." Chuck laughed as Ellie moved out of his arms and lightly slapped him on the arm, laughing with him.

"Come on," she said after a moment. "We'd better get going, there's nothing left here that isn't destroyed or worth taking with us." Nodding, Chuck followed his sister out of the carcass that used to be their home.

* * *

When they entered the Miller's home, they found all of the occupants talking in the kitchen. As Chuck entered the kitchen for the first time, he noticed how warm and inviting it was. The stainless steel appliances blended well with the black granite tops and the cherry wood cabinets and drawers. What stood out to him, however, was the marine blue bag that rested in the corner of the room. Rushing to pick it up, he stared questioningly at Sarah.

"We found it next to you and figured it was something important to you, considering you went rushing into a fire for it." The end of Sarah's sentence came out with a bit of anger, but at that moment Chuck didn't really mind. He knew they were all pissed at him for his foolish actions and he couldn't blame them, but he had almost forgotten about the bag after everything, Ellie, the apartment. Grabbing Ellie he dragged her into the living room and over to the couch, glad that the Miller's had stayed behind, understanding the need for the siblings' privacy.

"Here, I want to show why I went in. I know it was a stupid thing to do and it may take you a while to forgive me for it, but maybe you'll understand more after this."

Ellie, while still surprised by Chuck dragging her into the living room, moved closer to both Chuck and the bag. He was wrong though. She already forgave him. What he did was stupid, but he was her little brother and he was alive, there was no way she was going to ruin the only relationship she had with her family over something so stupid. No way was she going to ruin her relationship with her little brother over something like that. She had to protect him, she knew that most of the time she would be protecting him from himself. Whatever the reason, she was going to protect him and she knew that he would do anything for her. She was telling the truth before, she was all Chuck had and he was all she had. But it was enough. No. It was more than enough.

Ellie turned her attention back to Chuck when he pulled something out of the bag. It was an album, she noticed.

The red album.

Her mouth went dry. Leave it to her little brother to save those pictures. Chuck's nervous smile grew when he noticed Ellie's giddiness. Opening the album, he rested it in between them and they made their way through the memories.

The first were pictures of a beautiful brunette woman lying in the hospital bed holding what appeared to be a roll of pink blankets that had a tuft of brown hair poking out of the top. Both the woman and the man who had her in his embrace were looking at the bundle in between them rather than the camera. The bliss was apparent on both of the new parents' faces. The next few pictures were similar, both the Bartowski parents and a few hours old Ellie.

As the flipped the pages Ellie and Chuck laughed at Ellie's absurd Halloween costumes and 'd'awwwed' over her Christmas dresses. Other pictures were rare moments captured. Ellie in her mother's arms, being rocked to sleep in soft light of the half moon just present in the window. Other pictures told stories of afternoons spent in the park, family garden parties with the neighbours. Stories of a normal family. Halfway through a few pages were decorated lavishly in baby blue.

"Now it gets interesting." Chuck said, dodging a slap from Ellie as he tried to keep the album from falling to the floor. "I still maintain that the cutest Bartowski has now entered the album." Ellie snorted and patted his arm.

"You just keep telling yourself that, Chuck." Her playful smile took out any sting in her words.

Their attention returned to the photos in front of them. Chuck's hospital photos were pretty much the same as Ellie's except there was a nearly-three-year-old Ellie in almost every one. They paused over the photos with Ellie sitting in a hospital chair holding a baby Chuck.

"Did you know that when I first saw you I asked Dad where your batteries were?" Ellie shared and they both laughed.

"Thank God for medical school otherwise we'd all be screwed." Chuck said before dissolving into fits of laughter. Wiping tears from his eyes, Chuck flipped over the page and suddenly stilled. Ellie, resurfacing after her own bout of laughter, quickly looked at what had made Chuck stiffen.

She felt her heart break a little when she saw the picture. In the living room of their old home, her father and her brother sat infront of two separate computer screens. Her father had been working, random pieces of screwed up balls of paper lay strewn around his chair. Chuck, however, was playing a game of Tetris (what? It's a classic). Stephen Bartowski's head was resting on the palm of his left hand and Chuck had imitated him exactly.

The main focus of the rest of the photos was Ellie and Chuck, though there were a few family outings, such as the one time their father had taken time off work and they had gone out for a whole weekend. It wasn't long after that trip that their mother left but it held a truckload of great memories.

Ellie was surprised to see Chuck digging around in the bag after they finished looking through the album.

Slowly raising his hand out of the bag, Chuck turned to look at Ellie with a huge smile on his face. Ellie gasped as she saw what Chuck was holding.

It was their mother's charm bracelet.

"I found it in the bin the day after Mom left and I knew that you only put it there because you were upset so I took it out and kept it. I was going to give it to you, but you were so angry at Mom for so long and you had a lot going on, looking after me and all and I didn't want to give it back to you incase it upset you." Chuck frowned as a few tears silently slipped down his sister's face. "I'm sorry, this was a stupid idea. I should've known that it wo-" Ellie's finger cut off the rest of Chuck's sentence.

Wiping the tears away with the back of her hand, she spoke, her voice cracking slightly. "No, Chuck. You didn't do anything wrong." She looked him straight in the eyes, every word laden with sincerity. Wrapping him in a hug, she quietly whispered into his ear. "Thank you, Chuck. I'm still kinda pissed though." Her words had their desired effect and Ellie could feel rather and hear her brother chuckling. Pulling away from each other, they stayed connected in a semi-embrace. "Seriously, Chuck, thank you."

"Thank _you_, Ellie."

"For what?"

"Everything." Chuck said cryptically.

* * *

The Millers- and John- left the Bartowski's to themselves when Chuck literally dragged his sister into the living room. It was a family moment for them, and the Millers knew that they needed their privacy.

After a while, curiousity got the better of her, and Carol decided to have a little peep. At her smile, Alex joined her at the kitchen door. He could understand the reason behind his wife's inexplicably large smile.

Chuck and Ellie were sitting on the sofa laughing and just… being a family. It made his heart warm, knowing that the two had such a strong bond considering what Chuck had told them about his parents and their disappearing acts. He was distracted when Sarah joined them. Sarah smiled at the sight, her eyes growing slightly wet. A grunt behind them followed by a small thump alerted them to the presence of Casey and Carina. Luckily they hadn't disturbed the siblings, who were now in an embrace. After a few more seconds they returned to their previous positions around the kitchen table.

Sarah couldn't remove the smile from her face. It was nice to see how close Chuck and Ellie were. If she were honest, she was a bit envious. Ellie and Chuck had such a strong bond, formed through tragedy, and she had no idea where her only blood relative was. But, the more she thought about, the more she realised, she had no reason to be envious. Not anymore. She had Carina, Carol and Alex. She knew that Casey would help her (only if persuaded by Carina-but still!).

And then there was Chuck. He was the best friend she could ever hope to have; he helped her come out of the shell she had created after her father had started his 'business'. He was so open, but there was always an air of mystery to him that Sarah hoped she would be able to understand. He was beautiful. She'd always thought it weird when she heard women call men beautiful, but it was true. Chuck was beautiful in every sense of the word. His eyes. God, his eyes. The tantalizing chestnut eyes drew her in, and as soon as that happened, all rational thought would fly out of her mind. When he looked her in the eye, it made her feel as if the whole world had just stopped to listen, like she was the centre of the universe. It was a feeling Sarah never wanted to stop. It wasn't just his eyes, though, it was his presence. It was his presence that made her heart speed up just a bit every time he entered the room. It was his presences made her mouth suddenly turn into the Sahara Desert every time he smiled the goofy smile of his.

Sarah's thoughts were interrupted by Ellie and Chuck entering the kitchen. Ellie's eyes were slightly red and puffy, a clear sign that she had been crying, but she was happy now, as the smile on her face told everyone.

* * *

"And that concludes our tour of the Miller abode." Alex made his way down the stairs to the living room, followed by Chuck. "Anything you need, towels…whatever, be sure to ask, okay?" Chuck nodded. "Are you sure the sofa bed is fine? We could always lug down a mattress and shift a few things around."

"The sofa bed's perfect, thanks Mr Miller."

"It's Alex, Chuck. If you start calling me Mr Miller I may become more power hungry."

"More?" Chuck questioned with a laugh and Alex joined in as they stepped into the kitchen which, even filled with the rest of the crowd, wasn't even full.

Ellie sat on the round kitchen table, chatting to the Carol. Both had a mug of coffee in their hands and smiles on their faces. On the other half of the table, near the window, sat Carina and Sarah. It looked as if they were discussing something to do with Sarah's hair. Maybe Carina was giving her tips or something. She had no reason to, Sarah looked beautiful as it is. Sarah looked up and met his gaze and Chuck realised that he had been staring at her. With a sheepish smile Chuck moved towards his sister.

"Hey. When do you have to go back?" His tone carried a slight melancholic undertone.

"I have early lectures tomorrow so I'm going to have to leave tonight." Chuck frowned. "But, it won't take me long to get there so I have a few hours to spare." Carol Miller couldn't help but smile as a bright grin stretched on both of the Bartowski's faces. They were close, not surprising from the little information she had gleaned from Ellie while her husband had shown Chuck around. She was impressed with Ellie. After their mother had left she had managed to look after her younger brother all the while studying to earn a place in university. It was one Hell of an achievement. It was a shame that no one but her brother was there to see her accomplish so much. He wasn't the only one now.

"So what do y-" Alex's question was interrupted by a startlingly loud knock on the door.

"I'll get it." Carina said as she moved out of the kitchen followed by the others who crowded into the furnished living room.

"Hi-oh." And there, on the other side of the door stood a speechless Morgan Grimes. His jaw worked up and down but he didn't seem able to form any coherent words and he stared at Carina… or certain parts of Carina.

Carina liked being looked at by men… no, wait. That's wrong. Carina _loved_ being looked at by men. But this… gnome shows up and he's looking at her assets as if they're water being offered to a thirsty man was a bit too much, even for her standards. Okay, so maybe they were just directly at his eye level, the creep was short, but still, she had eyes… and legs. She'd worked hard on those legs. Okay, enough was enough. "Hello? Can I help you?" She couldn't stop the modicum of disgust that made its way into her voice.

"I-uh-well I-uh-"

"Morgan?" Morgan's saving grace came in the form of a curly haired boy.

Morgan's eyes literally lit up as if he was just told that Joss Whedon, Summer Glau, and Morena Baccarin would be visiting him for Christmas. "Chuck! You're alive."

Before Chuck could react to his friend's outburst, Morgan had jumped onto him- literally- and he didn't let go.

"Yeah, I'm alive. But I won't be if you don't let go in the next two minutes." Chuck's voice was strained as he tried his best not to collapse under Morgan's weight.

"Oh, right. Sorry." Morgan flashed Chuck an apologetic grin before turning to the others in the room. Suddenly he stood stock still, mouth gaping open. For there, before him, stood none other than a Goddess. The future Mrs Morgan Guillermo Grimes. Her hair was a luscious brown and rested on her shoulders. Her pink lips were raised slightly at the corners, a fraction of what he knew to be perfectly straight, white teeth shone through the parting of her lips. Her hair was now blowing behind her as if there was a fan in the room. Her small smile turned into a smirk and… Oh Sweet Mother of God… She just winked at him! There was a God!

Chuck watched in slight amusement and disgust as his friend stared at his sister. And stared. And stared. "Uh, Morgan?" He waved a hand in front of Morgan's awed expression. Ellie turned a questioning gaze at Chuck. "Morgan, buddy, you're catching flies… and freaking out my sister." Morgan suddenly came out of his daydream and smiled brilliantly at Ellie, bringing a hand to his hair to tame the fuzzy mess.

"Hi, I'm Morgan Grimes. Chuck's best friend," Morgan quirked an eyebrow, "and confidante." Chuck stared in shock at his friend who had been attempting a suave bond voice. _Attempting_ being the key word.

Chuck was brought out of his shock by a disgusted grunt. "Eh. Love at first creep." Carina's laugh was soon joined by the rest of the groups bar Ellie and Morgan, the former blushed while the former just grinned goofily at her.

"Morgan this is my sister, Ellie. Ellie, this is Morgan, he works at the Buy More with me."

Ellie flashed Morgan a wary smile and said hi. Morgan's smile grew at the fact that she actually spoke to him. His day couldn't get any better.

* * *

He couldn't believe it. He knew that he'd done something wrong, but he did not deserve this punishment. Chuck was currently standing in the middle of a clothes shop as his sister, Carina and Sarah started handing him clothes that he had to try on. Morgan had ditched them when he heard that they were going shopping for _clothes_. Chuck couldn't blame him, he was actually shocked that Morgan's slightly –if not totally- inappropriate infatuation with his sister allowed him to reach the entrance of the mall. He was proud of his little buddy. Casey had gone home after Ellie and Chuck had returned to the kitchen- _'Too much lady feelings.'_ Sarah could swear she heard him say under his breath. Dropping the bundle of clothes on a chair outside the changing rooms, he picked the top most garment.

"Boys will be boys?" Chuck scowled as he read the glittery writing that adorned the black leather jacket.

"What?" Carina asked as innocently as possible. "They will be." Carina looked around at the other two girls who had their mouths hidden behind their hands as they tried to stifle their laughter.

Chuck spent half the time in the changing room, trying on shirts after shirts after jeans. Each time he tried in something new, he had to come out of the changing room and have the piece of clothing critiqued. While Sarah and Ellie were rather helpful, Carina..._wasn't_. The mocking, the teasing and the innuendo. Oh, God the innuendo. Chuck thought that he would be permanently blushing for the rest of his life.

During one of the many times Chuck was in the changing room, Carina left Ellie and Sarah to wait for him while she went… she never mentioned where she was going. But if Sarah knew her, and she did after living with her for so long, then the sly smile she wore could only mean trouble for all involved.

Ellie was pleased that she would have a few minutes alone with Sarah.

"So, Sarah, how are you finding Burbank? Carol told me that you moved here at the start of semester."

"It's going great. It was hard at first and it's going to take a while before it feels like home, but it's getting there."

Ellie looked like she was about to burst as she asked her next question. "So, you and my brother are good friends?"

"Yeah. When I was younger we moved around a lot and I never really had enough time to make friends because as soon as I would we'd move to another city or even state." Ellie's intrigue morphed into sympathy. Sarah didn't understand why she was spilling details of her past to someone she had just met. Ellie just had an aura that made you want to let her in. Chuck was the same; he managed to get her to open up and to let people in. _'It must be a Bartowski thing.'_ She thought. "Chuck's the first friend I've had in along long while and he's been the greatest friend. He's helped me a lot since I got here."

Ellie smiled as she watched the young girl before her speak about her brother. She knew, no matter how much Sarah may protest if she spoke her thoughts aloud, that Sarah liked her baby brother. They were only sixteen; it was weird to think of anyone falling for someone else at this age. Sarah and Chuck may not be in love, but they had certainly boarded the train. Next stop Crush Village. She knew it was the same for her brother. He may not know it but she wasn't his big sister for nothing. She was saved the hard work of stopping herself from jumping up and down - like Chuck when he was ten and ate all the chocolate he could get his hands on during his birthday party - when Chuck came out of the changing room, gently straightening the navy shirt that Sarah had insisted he try on.

"What do you think?" He asked, as had been his custom to do when he came out of the little booth.

"It's great, Chuck. Really suits you." Ellie said, looking him up and down. "The jeans look great with the shirt. You should try it with a white top underneath, though. I'll go look for one."

Once Ellie had left, Chuck turned to Sarah. "So, what do you think?"

"You look good, Chuck." Sarah said, a blinding smile on her face. _'Really, really good.'_ Chuck's smile brightened the room and got rid of the weariness that Sarah had been feeling after having been shopping for so long. As Ellie had done, Sarah looked Chuck up and down, trying not to blush as her eyes drifted downwards.

As she looked away, she didn't notice Chuck's slightly reddening face. _'Maybe, I should wear things like this more often, rather than all those sci-fi t-shirts.'_ Chuck loved those t-shirts, and he had even argued with Ellie for a good half an hour so that he could buy a few, but Sarah's compliment was slowly causing his brain to melt.

Unbeknownst to both of them, Ellie had returned rather quickly with a long-sleeved white shirt in her hand. She turned the corner to find Sarah and Chuck talking. She quickly hid behind the wall so that they wouldn't notice her return. Peaking out from her hiding place, she saw something that made her want to do a happy dance in the middle of the store. Sarah was taking Chuck in, her eyes roving all over him appreciatively, and a peaceful smile on her face. Chuck, himself was smiling that goofy smile of his, apparently not noticing Sarah's attention, or the fact that her eyes were sparkling in a way that Ellie could only see when Chuck was in the room.

After stifling an almighty squeal, Ellie walked around the corner and joined the other two.

After a few more hours of shopping and Chuck banging his head against the changing room wall, they left mall and returned home, exhausted. But the shopping trip had been very useful; replacing all of Chuck's clothes was something Ellie, Sarah and Carina had _way_ too much fun with, if you asked him. He had only been allowed to buy five sci-fi tops, having haggled with Ellie who insisted he not get any at all. It was seven in the evening by the time they arrived home and got Chuck settled.

Way too soon, Ellie was slipping on her jacket and waiting near the open door. Having said goodbye to everyone but Chuck she walked towards her car and he followed.

"I'll come back for thanksgiving, okay. It won't be that long. And I'll even introduce you to my boyfriend." Ellie said slyly.

"I can't wait, El." Chuck said, yet as hard as he tried to sound excited, he couldn't hide the sadness in his voice.

"I'm sorry, Chu-"

"No. You don't get to be sorry. You have no reason to be sorry." Chuck said firmly, his hand covering his sister's mouth. "I'm sorry. I was stupid today, running into the fire and I didn't think of the consequences. I'm sorry that I tore you away from studying. So, no more apologies. You have to go and become the best doctor there is." Chuck finished with a smile.

"Okay, no more apologies, I promise. As long as I can't apologise, I just have one thing to say to you too. You have no right to be sorry. What you did today was stupid, no question about it, but you're okay. You didn't 'tear' me away from my studies. I came because you're my little brother and I love you, okay? So get that in your thick skull. I'll do anything for you."

"You already have, El. You already have, and so now it's time for you to be selfish, okay? I want you to promise that you'll think about yourself more, don't worry so much about me. I've got friends to look after me, or kill me in your stead if I were to do anything slightly idiotic." Chuck flashed a brilliant smile and brought his sister into a rough embrace, slightly embarrassed at the tears streaming down his face. His sister wasn't leaving him or anything. She was only an hour away and would come if he ever needed her, today proved it. He thanked God everyday for giving him Ellie. Their parents may not have been the best – or close to the best – but God made up for it by giving him Ellie. He was going to do everything in his power to give Ellie every opportunity to succeed, just like she had done for him. As he pulled back from the embrace, he caught Ellie, wiping at her eyes and suddenly didn't feel so embarrassed. Imitating his sister, he wiped the tears from his eyes and led her to her car. Simply put, it was a piece of junk. But, it did it's job, it passed all inspections and it was all they were able to spend on a car.

Bending down so that he could meet his sister's gaze through the open window, Chuck smiled at his sister, "Love you, El. Drive safe."

"I will Chuck. I'll talk to you tomorrow. Thanksgiving will come quickly I promise."

"Is this promise like when you told me that Peaches ran away? Or maybe, when we had to flush Sir Swimsalot down the toilet and you told me that it led to goldfish Heaven?" Chuck brace himself as Ellie gave him a playful shove.

"Yes." Chuck raised an eyebrow. "I still maintain that the toilet leads to goldfish Heaven." Chuck was laughing as he pushed himself away from the car and watched his sister drive away. As much as he told himself that she wasn't leaving, as much as he _knew_ that his sister would _never_ leave him, it tore at his heart to watch her drive away. When he went back into the house only Sarah was in the living room, waiting for him.

"Dad has to get to work really early tomorrow and it's been a rather eventful day." Chuck's lips quirked when she said 'Dad'. He knew how happy it made Alex and Carol when she started accepting that fact that she was part of the family. It made him happy to that she had settled and found herself comfortable enough to call this place home. He knew that she hadn't had the best start in life, whatever had happened, she had never told Chuck, or anyone else, but he respected her need for privacy. He knew what it felt like to have something or someone hurt you so terribly that you felt like you couldn't trust anyone else. He was lucky, though, he had Ellie. He didn't even want to imagine what it was like for Sarah, on her own, dealing with the realities of life.

Chuck was surprised when Sarah hugged him, but after an awkward moment or two, wrapped his arms around her. It felt so right.

Chuck could feel Sarah's warm breath against his ear as she whispered, "I'm so glad you're okay." Sarah pulled away all too quickly for Chuck's liking. The loss of body contact had Chuck silently cursing in his mind. Sarah concentrated on her hands and Chuck noticed her take a deep breath before saying, "Please... please don't do anything like that again, okay?" She suddenly looked Chuck straight in the eye, Chuck was surprised to see the vulnerability shining from her eyes as they watered and a few tears slipped down her face. Chuck immediately raised his hand, and with his thumbs, gently wiped away her tears before wrapping her in his embrace. "I just... I can't lose you. You're my best friend, and I don't want to lose you." Chuck squeezed her tighter.

"I promise. You're not getting rid of me that easily." Sarah chuckled slightly and pulled away, wiping away her tears.

"Thank you, Chuck." Sincerity rang in every word. After a while of just sitting in silence, not an awkward silence by any means, Sarah got up, but not before leaning close to him for a moment that made Chuck's heart stop beating and his eyes close. With a soft "goodnight" she made her way to her bedroom.

Chuck's hand gently touched the place that her lips had been for a brief second of pure bliss. Lying supine on the sofa bed, Chuck knew that he wouldn't stop smiling for a while as he continuously replayed the last few minutes in his mind. Maybe Sarah didn't like him as he liked her, but after that evening, Chuck's heart beat with a little more hope for the future.

* * *

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**TeamBartowski.  
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	13. Chapter 12

**Hey everyone! **

**I hope you all had an awesome Christmas (if you celebrate it, ofcourse) and I hope the first month of the New Year is treating you right. So, yeah this is late. I won't bother with a list of excuses, you have to know that it couldn't be helped, things got in the way and they took a while to get rid of them, especially when you have two people writing the story.**

**I hope that you'll forgive me and Erica, especially since this chapter is longer than usual. Pwetty pwease? *doe eyes***

**Disclaimer: I was hopeful this christmas but neither me or Erica found Chuck in our stockings, we thought that with the two of us there would be a higher probability, but still nothing. We don't own Chuck. *sniffles***

**I hope you all enjoy!**

**D-no  
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* * *

Chuck was awake before the rest of the household and that's why he found himself where he was right now.

Dying.

Okay, maybe that was a bit much, but it certainly felt like it. When the offer was given only half an hour ago, Chuck thought that it would be fun. He was an idiot. Plain and simple.

Chuck stumbled, but righted his footing as quickly as he could so as not to collapse and embarrass himself in front of Alex Miller. Because, yes, Chuck was currently out jogging with Sarah's foster father.

What? No, he was certainly not being a weakling. Let's put the whole thing into perspective. Chuck was a nerd, whose form of exercise was to walk down to the arcade with Morgan and stay there for hours on end. And this was the first time he had actively sought out do improve his fitness. And, no, it was not because of a certain blonde woman he may or may not be infatuated with. (It was the former, definitely the former.)

The run was mostly silent except for a few exchanged words at the beginning of the run. After the first five minutes, it was all Chuck could do to keep his legs and arms functioning. Talking was totally out of the question and Alex seemed to realise that. Or he just liked running in silence. Whichever one it was, Chuck was grateful.

Chest aching, sweat dripping and muscles aching, Chuck stopped along with Alex and walked beside him.

"We'll walk the rest of the way; we can cool down and have a chat." Well that didn't sound ominous.

After a few minutes of silence except for their heavy breathing, well, _Chuck's_ heavy breathing, Chuck had to stop himself from jumping when Alex spoke up.

"So, Chuck," he began and it Chuck all he could not to wither under his gaze, "Sarah. Great girl isn't she?"

"Uh ye-yeah. Awesome in fact." Chuck stuttered. _'Didn't see that coming.'_

"Very true. I know you care about Sarah a lot, you guys are the best of friends and you're all she ever talks about at home," Chuck swallowed. Oh, God. That couldn't be true. He couldn't be _all_ she talked about. Yet, as he was telling himself that, he couldn't help but grin at the thought. Alex saw the small smile and carried on, "I know I can trust you remain... respectful, can't I?"

Chuck froze for a moment then caught on to his meaning, it wasn't all that subtle to begin with, but once Sarah was mentioned Chuck tended to have a hard time concentrating on anything around him. "Yes, sir." _'Sir? Where the Hell did that come from?'_ Alex, apparently, found it incredibly amusing.

And with that, their conversation ended, as had their 'cool down'. Alex held the door open for Chuck, who went straight to the fridge and tossed Alex a bottle, who in turn nodded his thanks.

"Woah, hey, slow down there Chuck. Don't want to drown yourself." Chuck grinned and brought the bottle down from his lips. "Anyway, I have an early appointment today so I better shower and get going. You're welcome to use the main bathroom and any shampoo you feel the need to use. I will be worried if you come out smelling like lilacs, though." Chuck blushed, and realised that it was Sarah's shampoo that made her smell like lilacs. "It was a good run today." At Chuck's disbelieving look, Alex amended his previous statement, "it'll get better after a few more days. Do you want to carry on?"

"Sure."

The warm water soothed his aching muscles as Chuck stood under the gentle spray. Looking at the shelf Chuck could immediately tell which shampoo Sarah used. He had a sudden urge to take a sniff. Reaching out, he stopped himself. It would seem a tad stalkerish if her were to sniff her shampoo. But then, no one would know. With that Chuck's mental argument came to an end and his hand carried on its planned trajectory. It didn't smell as nice as he thought it would. Maybe the smell Chuck liked was more Sarah than the lilac shampoo he had just returned to its rightful place.

After spending enough time under the warm water, Chuck stepped out of the large cubicle, trying not to slip on the smooth tiles.

As Chuck put on his new clothes, he was annoyed to see that the bruises on his torso, and the upper half of his arms still hadn't disappeared. The ones on his arms were easy to explain away, and it wasn't as if anyone was going to see the ones thro-

Or maybe not.

As he was talking silently to himself, Chuck hadn't heard the light knocking on the door. Evidently, the person on the other side of the door took that to mean that the bathroom was unoccupied. Chuck turned at the sound of the door opening, he was halfway through putting his shirt on and his head was still covered. Quickly pulling down the shirt his eyes widened when he saw Sarah standing in the open doorway, wide-eyed and speechless.

Chuck shuffled awkwardly and cleared his throat. Sarah snapped out of her trance. "Oh, my God. I am _soo_ sorry. I didn- I knocked and there was no ans- I am soo sorry-"

Chuck cut her off. "It's okay, it was my fault. I just didn't hear the knocking." He smiled, hoping that it would make her feel a least a little less embarrassed. He didn't think it worked, because it didn't work for him. Sarah's face was bright pink, the colour rising from her neck up to her beautifully shaped cheeks. Chuck shook his head, hoping that he wasn't staring. Oh, God. This whole this was just uncomfortable and embarrassing. Had she seen anything? He hoped to God not. He wasn't exactly the stereotype of masculinity when it came to the looks department.

When Chuck finally had the courage to look back up, he blinked. Why was Sarah frowning?

"Chuck," she said slowly, deliberately, "where did the bruises come from?"

"These?" Chuck waved at the bruises on his arms. Hoping that she hadn't seen the others.

"No." Crap! "The ones..." Sarah seemed to have lost her voice again, and she resorted to waving her arms in Chuck's general direction.

'_Think, Chuck. Dammit! Think!'_ "Uh... wrestling."

"What?" At least her frown was gone...almost.

"Morgan and I decided to try re-enacting the some fight scenes in Star Wars, and Morgan, being Morgan wanted it to authentic, and he may have pushed a bit too hard." His shaking voice didn't help matters at all. Maybe he should've told her the truth. No! This was his problem; he had to deal with it by himself. Anyway, they couldn't keep torturing him like this, could they? It was a trend in his other schools, they would bully him, and they would get bored and move on. If he didn't fight back, just gave in, they would get bored and leave him alone. Although, he had probably made it all the more interesting for them by rising to their bait. Smiling at Sarah, trying to hide his feelings, Chuck changed the subject. "So, breakfast? I don't know about you, but if I don't eat before school, I won't be able to concentrate in any class. You know, once..." _That's it Chuck, change the subject. Change the subject.'_

"Carol's got breakfast ready downstairs. I'll be right down, I just have to..." She gestured towards the bathroom that Chuck had just exited while they had been talking – while he had been _lying_.

"Oh, uh sure." This time his smile wasn't fake.

He was lying. She knew he was. Chuck had an open, honest face. And his always expressive eyes were so obviously hiding something. He just couldn't lie. So why was he trying to?

She wasn't good at this sort of thing. Talking to people about feelings, theirs or her own. It made her uncomfortable. But something was bother Chuck and she knew that she had to be there for him, no matter how it made her feel. He was her best friend and she would do just about anything for him.

Even talk about her own feelings. Maybe. Maybe not just yet. But soon, soon enough, he would wear down the walls her father had taught her to raise and she would be able to talk to Chuck, to Carol, Alex. She would be wary of talking to Carina, who was as allergic to talking about her feelings, bar sexual feelings, as Sarah herself was. Sarah knew that was only because she found them boring. Why talk about your feelings with a guy when you could be kissing him? Or more. That was Carina general take on things, not just feelings. But Carina seemed to be more open to talk about things other than looks and sex.

Sarah was shaken out of her thoughts by a loud rapping noise. Someone was at the door. At least she heard the knocking unlike Chuck... and with that Sarah's mind was back to the moment when she opened the door on a shirtless Chuck. For a moment, the nasty bruises she saw took a back seat as she admired his lean figure. For a nerd he sure did have quite a few muscles. She smiled to herself when she remembered how flustered he was. It was cute... and almost hot.

"Your sudden change in skin colour wouldn't have anything to do with a certain clumsy boy who I just saw, walking down the stairs, dreamy look on his face, would it?"

Sarah jumped a little at the sound of Carina's voice. "I don't know what you mean." Turning back to the sink, she ignored the sudden burn of her cheeks as Carina's words registered. 'Dreamy look'? he couldn't have been thinking about her... could he?

"You know, for some _inane_ reason, I think you're lying to me." For the first time since Carina entered the bathroom, Sarah looked at her, a small grin on her face. "I knew it. But alas, we have no time for this but trust me, tonight we're gonna have a _long_ talk."

"Why don't we have time for this? We have ages 'til we have to get to school."

"And yet that might not be long enough."

"Long enough for what?"

Carina's smirk was unsettling. This wasn't going to be good.

* * *

Oh. My God.

She was trying to kill him, wasn't she? That had to be the only reason she was looking... the way she did and smiling at him in... the way she was.

At first Chuck was worried when, after an hour upstairs, Sarah still hadn't come down. When he thought about it though, he knew that Carina must be holding her up. But he didn't expect her to look so different when she came down.

'_How the Hell did that only take an hour?'_

Sarah's hair was less stringy, it was thicker, fuller. And blonde. She now wore make up that made her eyes stand out more than usual and her lips... just wow. Her clothes were different too. The dark blue blouse, was low cut and accentuated her bright blue eyes even more. They were tighter in the places that they needed to be tighter in...

_'Stop right there, Bartowski!'_

They had to be Carina's clothes. He knew Sarah owned nothing like that. He liked that she didn't wear anything like that though, it was more down to earth, more _her_. The man in him, however much he hated to deny it, liked it a lot. It took Chuck a while to realise that the centre of his whole thought process was actually talking to him.

"-okay, Chuck?"

"Huh, oh yeah. I'm fine. Absolutely perfect. Could not be better even if FOX realised they made a stupid mistake eight years ago."

"Riiight." Sarah's confusion didn't last long, it wasn't allowed to. Not with Chuck's initial reaction still stuck in her mind. She had fought with Carina about the changes. But after looking in the mirror and seeing Chuck's reaction, she had definitely changed her mind. "So what do you think?"

'_Someone that beautiful should not be that shy.'_ The thought rang out somewhere in the back of his mind. "Yo-you look great, perfect, beautiful in fact. And I'm going to stop talking now." Chuck dropped his gaze back to his plate.

"No, its okay, I thought it was... sweet?" _'Jesus Walker, what the Hell was that? He calls you perfect and you say he's sweet?'_ She was right, it was the wrong thing to say, all it seemed to do was to make him blush and make sure that he couldn't make eye-contact with her for the rest of breakfast.

When Sarah came back downstairs with Carina she was wearing her usual clothes, jeans and a top. Of course it never was _just_ jeans and a top with Sarah. She was beautiful. She was beautiful without the makeover, but now? She was mind-blowing.

When he asked her why she had changed, she just shrugged and said that she felt more comfortable in her own clothes. Chuck hid his relief at that; she seemed more like Sarah in the clothes she usually wore. Not caring what other people thought, not _needing_ to care what other people thought.

Their walk to school was normal, but as they passed by Chuck and Ellie's burnt shell of a home everyone became subdued for a few minutes. When they reached the school, Chuck and Sarah parted ways, agreeing to meet up for lunch, as usual.

* * *

Sarah was relieved to find that Chuck hadn't arrived before her. The only people on the table were Carina and Casey.

She couldn't get past Chuck's blatant lie that morning. She knew that everyone was entitled to their own secrets, she knew that better than anyone, but if Chuck was getting hurt, if someone was hurting Chuck, he needed to tell someone.

The thought of someone hurting Chuck made her shudder. Who the Hell would want to hurt Chuck? He was kind to everyone, always offering to help. It was absurd, but so was the idea that him and Morgan could get hurt re-enacting a scene from Star Wars. That was it, wasn't it? She wasn't well-versed in the nerd culture, or most cultures, to be honest. She didn't really mind, especially when Chuck had offered to correct that heinous crime (Chuck's words) by making her sit through hours on end of movies and TV shows. Hence, Sarah not caring about her lack of nerd knowledge, it meant she could spend even more time with Chuck. Sitting next to Carina, Sarah glanced around the cafeteria, making sure that they would be alone for as long as it took to get the conversation over and done with.

"Carina," Sarah started, "can I ask you a question?"

Carina was about to answer with some joking comment but she noticed Sarah's expression. It was serious with a hint of worry and some other emotions that she couldn't read. "Sure." Glancing at Casey quickly, to find him glaring at something at the other side of the hall. Pushing aside her curiosity, Carina turned back to Sarah.

"I went in to the bathroom this morning and I saw something."

'_Now this was interesting.'_ "Something to do with Chucky, by any chance?" Sarah blushed. "Come on, I want details."

"No!" Sarah lowered her voice when a few people from the tables around them looked over. "No. It wasn't like that. Fine, it wasn't _exactly_ like that." She blushed again. "Chuck was just putting on his shirt," Sarah hurried to continue as Carina smirked, "I didn't see much, but there were bruises over his..."

"Beautifully carved chest? Lithe and sup-"

"Shhh! Over his _chest area_. There were quite a few bruises, and they were quite bad." Carina's expression seemed to ask 'And?' "When I asked him about them, he gave some lame excuse about re-enacting some sci-fi scene and wanting to make it more 'authentic'."

"And you think he was lying?"

"I _know_ he was lying. I don't know what to do. I mean, what if someone's hurting him?"

"He's a clumsy moron, he just probably fell off a chair, and you're worrying about nothing." Casey had to add his two cents in, and they didn't make Sarah feel any better.

"You're going to have to ask him yourself. I would probably say to let him come to you on his own, but considering that he actually flat out lied to _you_, of all people, I think you may have to confront him. Just ask for the truth." Carina shrugged.

'_Where the Hell did Carina pull that out from? Wait one second.'_ "What do you mean, 'you of all people?"

"Come on, Sarah. I really shouldn't have to explain that Chuck may be your best friend, but his feelings for you are for someone that is more than a best friend. And, if I'm not mistaken, you feel the same way."

"Well, I'm sorry, but you are mistaken, about all of it. Chuck doesn't have any _feelings_ for me, he couldn't." _'Couldn't he?'_ "And I only see him as my best friend." _'Lie.'_

"You keep telling yourself that, blondie. I'm right, you'll see."

"Hey, guys. How are you?"

A small chorus of 'fines' and one grunt of annoyance answered him.

"I'll be right back," Chuck said, "just need to get a drink." As he tried to manoeuvre out of his seat, his foot caught on the leg of the chair, and he went sprawling over the floor. Accepting Sarah's offered hand, he smiled, nonplussed, and with a one of his small cheery waves that made Sarah's heart beat faster in her chest, walked to the counter.

"See what I mean? Clumsy moron." Casey chuckled to himself.

Chuck was clumsy, but she knew that he couldn't bruises like he had by falling off a chair.

* * *

English was dull, simple. They were talking about comma splicing and how it was a _very bad thing to do._ Well, the teacher was talking about comma splicing, the rest of the class, Sarah included, were watching the large clock on the wall, waiting for the bell to ring.

"Okay, before you all rush off, I'm going to give you an assignment."

Someone's phone went off as soon as she said that. The ringtone was a scream. The whole class burst into laughter and even the teacher had to appreciate the timing.

"Yes, yes, that was funny, but you're still getting an assignment. Don't worry, it's just a small essay, and you will have partners to dump all of the work on." Someone at the back of the room gave a small 'whoop' at that.

Sarah wished that she had Chuck in her English class so that they could partner up again; it was fun when they had to do the music assignment and Chuck getting flustered while trying to ask her if she wanted to be his partner was just adorable.

"Before you get to excited, I'm going to choose your partners." Everyone groaned. "Okay, I've put half the class's names in this hat. I'm going to go round the other half of the class and you will _all _pick out a name. Okay, moment of truth."

Each person picked out a name, some people cheered when they got a friend, others groaned at the name on the paper.

When it came to Sarah, she found herself oddly nervous about it. She didn't have any friends in her class, she knew a few people, but she wouldn't call them her friends. What if she picked one of those plastic girls who never stopped putting on makeup, or one of the jocks who would constantly make crude jokes? She shoved her hand into the hat and picked up the first piece of paper that her fingers came into contact with. Opening it she read the name out so the rest of the class could hear, "Tommy."

* * *

Chuck waited for Sarah by the gates, as usual. He was surprised to see her walking out with someone, a _male_ someone. He had to put a lid over the rush of emotions that struggled to get out, when he saw them together.

"Hey Chuck." Sarah said as they walked up. "Chuck, this is Tommy. Tommy, this is my best friend Chuck."

"Hello Chuck." Tommy stretched out a hand to a frozen Chuck, a smirk playing on his lips.

"Chuck?" Sarah's voice snapped him out of his fear, and he shoved his hand, unwillingly, in to Tommy's to find his bones slowly being crushed in his grip. After a longer than normal wait, Tommy let go of Chuck's hand and Chuck had to fight the urge to clutch his hand to his chest and groan in pain.

"Tommy's my partner for an English assignment so he's going to come over for a couple of hours today so that we can get it done to hand in tomorrow."

"Oh, uh, cool. I can't walk back with you guys today." Chuck stamped on the physical need to run away, to just forget excuses and run. "I have to go to the Buy More."

"I thought you didn't need to go in today." Sarah's brow was furrowed in confusion, and a bit of hurt.

"Oh, right. There was a- uh... mistake with the timetables and they need a couple of extra hands today so Morgan gave me a call."

"Oh, okay," Sarah's frown didn't leave her face but it became less pronounced. "See you later?"

"Of course. Bye." Chuck walked quickly away. He lied to her _again_. Man, he was such a bad friend. But he couldn't just walk home with _him._ Okay, he was jealous, a bit. But that wasn't the reason for his lie. Tommy was one of the ones who thought that beating a human punch bag constituted as an extracurricular activity and Chuck couldn't stomach walking home with him and being civil.

'_Oh, shit.'_ All this time he was worried about Tommy, he didn't think about Tommy being with Sarah. She would be okay, right? Tommy wouldn't do anything to her, would he? No, he couldn't, Alex was getting home early today and Carina was probably at home already. Tommy wouldn't dare to do anything to her while they were at home. But what if they weren't at home? What if Alex went shopping for groceries and Carina decided to go to Casey's? What if they were home alone and Tommy tried to hurt her. Or worse, tried to ... be with her. Man, he needed to get his priorities sorted.

'_No, she would be fine.'_ Chuck was brought out of his thoughts when he felt sand enter his converses. Looking up, he realised that he had walked all the way to the beach.

Dropping his bag on the sand, Chuck shrugged to himself and dropped down next to it. He wasn't actually needed at the Buy More and he couldn't go home without the risk of being caught lying. Staring across the sea, the waves calming him, he decided to stay at the beach a while longer.

* * *

Sarah was pissed. She had just gotten a call from Morgan asking to speak to Chuck. When she had explained that he was at the Buy More, Morgan had corrected her and told her that, no, Chuck was not at the Buy More. She knew he was acting weird after school, but she didn't think that he would lie to her again.

Sarah dropped herself unceremoniously at the kitchen table, watching Carol move around the kitchen with practise ease. She raised an eyebrow at Sarah's actions. "Who was on the phone?"

"Morgan."

"What did he want?"

"He wanted to know where Chuck is."

"I thought Chuck was working today."

"Yeah, that's what I thought too."

Carol stopped stirring the sauce on the cooker and turned to Sarah. "What's wrong, sweetie?"

Sarah smiled at the endearment but a frown quickly replaced it. "Chuck lied to me."

"Are you sure?"

"Sure as Hell. Sorry. But, yeah I'm sure. Morgan said that Chuck had a day off today and that he hadn't seen him all day. And he lied to me this morning."

"What happened?"

"I accidently walked into the bathroom this morning while he was changing," Sarah cleared her throat, she did not like the way Carol was smiling at that little tid-bit of information, "and I saw some bruises, a lot of bruises. When I asked him about it he flat out lied to my face. Did I do something wrong? I thought friends tell each other the truth. Chuck lied to me today for the first time, he lied _twice_, and I don't know what to do."

"Oh, sweetie, c'mere." Carol sat next to Sarah and pulled her into a comforting hug. "I know Chuck would _never_ lie to you without good reason. He cares about you, a lot. There must be some explanation about the bruises, maybe he fell when he tried to get out of the apartment, and maybe he didn't feel comfortable talking about it because you had walked in on him in the bathroom?" Sarah blushed.

Sarah burrowed into her embrace, "but, what do I do? I asked Carina, and she said I should confront him, but I just don't feel comfortable with that."

Carol chuckled, "Carina's definitely one for confrontations, but I think that you need to understand that Chuck has a reason for lying to you and make sure that you're there for him when he wants to tell you the truth." Sarah nodded.

"Group hug!" Alex walked in and wrapped his arms around the two women. When he released them, Carol swatted his arm, shaking her head at his antics.

When Chuck got back, he found Sarah sitting watching the TV. He could hear Carol and Alex in the kitchen, his stomach rumbled at the smell that wafted from the closed door.

He sat down next to Sarah, "so, did you manage to finish your project?"

"Yeah, it was really easy, took us less than hour. Tommy's a nice guy." Chuck flinched. "Morgan called." Chuck's eyes widened. He hadn't thought of that possibility.

Oh, God. She must be pissed. She was going to tell him that they could no longer be friends. Chuck closed his eyes, preparing himself for the blow.

"I don't understand, I just don't understand why you would lie. But," Chuck looked at her in surprise and was shocked to see a small smile on her face, "I understand that there must be a reason. I would hope that you could come to me and tell me what's bothering you so much that you feel the need to lie about it. I know that you probably don't want to tell me know but I want you to know that when you want to talk to someone, _if_ you want to talk to someone, you can talk to me, I'll listen. I may promise to listen, but I can't promise that I won't laugh."

Chuck pretended to think about it for a second, "Well, I'll have to take what I can get." He sighed and then smiled a large, ear to ear grin that Sarah had to return. He then hugged her, hard. "I really am sorry. It's just something I have to deal with by myself. Thank you for not beating me to a pulp for lying to you. We both know you could do that."

"Now, why would I beat you up? If I did you wouldn't be able to teach me all that nerdy stuff that you said I just have to learn."

"I understand now, you're only friends with me because of my vast knowledge of Klingon and space cowboys." Sarah snorted.

"Space cowboys? Seriously?"

"You wound me! Space cowboys are like the best things ever. I had an imaginary friend called Maurice when I was younger. He was a space cowboy. I'm hurt that you think so little of the profession and so is Maurice."

"You still have an imaginary friend?" Sarah could barely speak through her laughter and Chuck's affronted look.

"Of course. We may have to grow old, but who said we had to grow up?"

"Nice." Sarah stopped laughing, only start again after less than a minute. "I'm so-sorry, it's just... Maurice! Where the Hell did that come from?"

"Hey, it's a great name! Don't you mock his name. You know, Maurice is very hurt. You're going to have to apologise." Chuck shook his head sadly.

"Seriously? Okay, wipe that smile off your face, mister. I'm sorry, Maurice for making fun of you job and your name?"

"I think he forgives you."

"Thank God for that." Sarah said sarcastically. "You know, food's gonna be a while. Wanna start teaching me about the wonders of space cowboys while we wait?"

* * *

John Casey was not in the he best of moods, not that he was ever very pleasant to begin with, but today he felt like shooting someone right in the face and he knew exactly who was to blame for his fury (well more his annoyance) and that person was one Charles 'Chuck' Bartowski. His so called mentee and his girlfriend's foster sister's not-boyfriend. Not only had the idiot nearly killed himself but he was supposedly lying to Sarah which, despite his chronic condition of not caring, was clearly very serious to Sarah and therefore to her foster sister and his girlfriend, Carina. Via an extended 'bitch to the boyfriend' session he now knew far more than he would like about the little melodrama going on between Walker and Bartowski. Hence to avoid further annoyance and the chance of punching some innocent freshmen in the face (again) John Casey had headed straight to the school gym to sweat out the anger. What he found in the locker room however did not help dissipate his anger at all, quite the opposite in fact.

He heard them first, muffled words, laughter and the unmistakable grunt of a person in pain. It was a grunt he was probably overly familiar with, but he didn't really care if some nobody kid was getting into a fight, so his pace did not quicken.

Then he heard the voices get more distant and finally disappear; Casey figured that they must have left through the locker room's other door. It made no difference to him.

Then he turned the corner and the nobody kid suddenly became Chuck Bartowski, and he did not look good.

It was highly apparent from whom those grunts of pain had been coming from, it was also clear that it wasn't the first time this sort of thing had occurred. Chuck's back, which was facing Casey, was uncovered, his shirt riding up. It was mottled with bruises of various sizes and colours that made Casey have to swallow a lump in his throat. He was holding his arm against his chest, cradling a slightly swollen wrist, as if it had been twisted and was now aching. Finally, what really got Casey was the resigned sigh that barely past Bartowski's lips as he painfully picked himself up off the grimy locker room floor.

This had definitely happened before and it was glaringly obvious that the kid was fully expecting it to happen again and wasn't going to do a damned thing to stop it!

So far the kid was apparently unaware of his presence, so when he turned around, he jumped backwards, surprised, banging his back against a locker, a slight hiss of pain escaping from his lip just before he could stop it.

" O-oh, uh hey Casey," Chuck floundered trying to hide his obvious pain, "What are you doing here?"

Casey just stared at him, an eyebrow raised, anger slowly seething its way through his gut. Why was the kid trying to hide what had just happened? Was this what had him lying to Walker?

"What the hell just happened?" Casey growled, never taking his eyes of Chuck, who had blanched at the words, staring to fidget as though he was thinking of just running.

"I don't know what you mean." Chuck mumbled, realising quickly that if he ran, well Casey could probably run faster.

Casey just stared at him, again Chuck just shifted uncomfortably.

"Who?"

The questioned shocked them both.

"No-one, nothing happened." The answer was far too quick and far too forced.

"Bartowski..." Casey growled a warning but Chuck cut him off looking slightly panicked.

" No, Casey nothing happened! And if it did it wouldn't matter, nothing would change if it did. You said so yourself, you don't care for my lady problems or my lady feelings. It would just worry people who already have enough stuff to worry about, and I'm not going to add anything else on their pile of things to deal with. Nothing happened!"

All of this was rushed, disjointed and the last declaration was bordering on breathless.

Not looking Casey in the eyes, Chuck just ducked his head and fled the room, not looking back.

Casey just stared after him. Going to the gym was not the best idea, he though to himself. He was still angry, and now he knew that Bartowski was in trouble and refusing to ask to help. Casey had a nasty feeling that if he pushed help onto Bartowski it would only push Chuck further away. Any trust the kid had in him – which probably wasn't a lot, not that Casey really cared – would disappear and Casey would then be unable to help him.

Unable to really process this Casey did the only thing that made sense to him.

He punched a locker. Hard.

* * *

**So, did you like it? I hope you guys did enjoy the chapter. We can't apologise enough for it being so late. If you liked it or have anything to say about the chapter please leave a review and let us know.  
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